Two more months flew by, and Misty never contacted Mark. He decided to call the Albuquerque police department to file a missing persons report. After he explained the circumstances and before he could finish his conversation, the officer on the other end knew instantaneously that Mark was the victim of a hoax.
Finding this con artist would be difficult or virtually impossible. The police could not help him. They did not have much to go on. After all, Mark knew nothing about this woman.
He met her in cyberspace, fell for and ended up inviting her to his home, only to discover that Misty was not her real name.
The police did advise him to file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office and hire a private investigator.
Mark had just enough money to pay his rent and bills and certainly did not have the resources to hire a private eye.
Sitting in his room, he started to shake and weep frantically until there were no more tears to shed.
It did not take long for the community to hear about Mark's turmoil, but the biggest shock came when a local newspaper published an article along with a photo resembling Misty. According to the piece:
This individual was wanted, in a couple of states and abroad, for fraud, identity theft, and impersonating a female, and up to now, no one has been able to accurately identify this person, because he uses countless disguises; this photo was the last known image of him, and if anyone had any information, to contact the local authorities at once.
Well, the gossip was non-stop. People could not comprehend how Mark could not tell the difference between a male and a female.
Many wondered if he was questioning his own sexuality and into the experimental stage.
Some went so far to say, "He went both ways."
However, what folks did not know was that Mark never slept with Misty or saw her naked. Every time he saw her, she always wore makeup and was completely clothed.
Her hair color and hairdo were somewhat different from the newspaper's depiction, but she had an air of secrecy that left everything to the imagination, and this was one of the attributes that he loved the most about Misty.
In his mind, she was a female, because there were never any signs that implied she was not.
When Mark read the article and saw that photo, he became emotionally and physically ill.
People would look at him as though he was an extraterrestrial from planet Neptune.
A few of his neighbors would avoid or not speak to him, and many started to feel sorry for him.