A finalist in the Miss Scotland competition has shared her shocking experience of discovering that her romantic interest was a catfish who turned out to be someone she knew.
Abbie Draper, aged 35, developed feelings for a man named ‘Dr David Graham’ after he sent her a friend request on Facebook. Living in Kilmarnock, she was captivated by his appearance when they first connected in 2015.
Initially, everything seemed perfect as the supposed doctor claimed to be caring for her sick grandfather. However, Abbie grew suspicious when he started avoiding meeting in person. After investigating on social media, she received a warning message following an invitation from ‘Dr David’ to perform at a charity event.
Upon further inquiry, Abbie discovered that ‘Dr David’ was actually a female nurse named Adele Rennie, who had also cared for her late grandfather. Collaborating with other victims, she uncovered a network of fake profiles stolen from Instagram to validate the catfish’s identity.
The revelation that she already knew Rennie personally left Abbie in disbelief and feeling violated. Rennie was eventually convicted of cyberstalking and sentenced to jail twice, first in 2017 for 22 months and again in 2020 for 28 months, with a potential release later this year.
The documentary ‘The Beauty Queen and the Catfish’ on BBC iPlayer delves into the harrowing experience Abbie and others faced at the hands of this duplicitous individual.