Kaycee Nicole - Aftermath

Aftermath

Internet anger at the hoax was swift, with van der Woning and many other supporters disclaiming Kaycee and Debbie. The local police in Peabody, Kansas were notified and soon handed off the case to the FBI as a possible fraud. The FBI declined to further investigate after its initial acceptance of the case, stating that it had not been able to find evidence that Debbie Swenson's accepting of gifts for "Kaycee" constituted a dollar amount above their threshold for financial crimes.

Swenson was apologetic for the hoax, but said that she believed the Kaycee character had also done some good. "A lot of people have problems", she told the New York Times. "I know I helped a lot of people in a lot of different ways."