Alleged 'Internet Casanova' con man tracked to Salt Lake City

 @Sarah Berry I'm a guy, not a gal, but I am willing to say that sometimes good hearted people, sometimes get taken advantage of.  I don't think it implies they are desperate, but by their very nature of opening their hearts, they tend to also be vulnerable.  Now, if anyone that I recently met, turned out a sob story about being robbed/evicted/mugged and wanted to crash with me, I'd be putting on the brakes and offering to call for services available to them, but not moving them into my home.  However, I think a relative amount of common sense would dictate not selling off your assets like your house/car to move, unless you've actually confirmed all of the details YOURSELF.

 @Adam Goodrich maybe you should offer her some consoling.

@Sarah Berry many woman may have let him come back for his 'stuff'you are savy and outstanding to any one you help god bless tom

 @Sarah Berry  @RalphCramden HAHAHA!  YEah, I mean...I think he got lucky the first night I met him.  We met in Wicker Park and sat outside for a couple of drinks and an appetizer.  SO Ray is yapping away his movie nonsense to me and the couple sitting next to us kind of butted in to our conversation.  The couple (probably in their mid 60's) started speaking to us separately, the man apparently worked in television so him and Ray were popping off while I spoke to the woman about her art gallery.  We met at 8 and Ray said he had to pick up a camera guy he was interviewing from O'Hare.  I thought that was strange, but again, I really have no idea how the movie business works.  So, he left at 10:30 pm and invited me on a boat the next day and TOLD ME to bring a friend and that his buddies are attractive/successful.  So, the next day rolls around and he keeps delaying and delaying, saying that his "interview with the camera guy" was taking longer than he thought and that he was sorry that we could not go on the boat.  So, my friend and I, being polite boat invitees, bought food, stuff for mojitos (my neighbor grows mint) and were sitting around waiting.  Finally, we started griling and we stupidly invited him over.

 

We were both like, WTF is up with this weirdo?  We both noticed the pumpkin teeth and were like "ew."  And he smelled bad.  LOL!  I did know his name, because he showed us his only stupid accomplishment (I bet he stole it...we just haven't found that person yet) on the internet.  Right after Ray left, my neighbor and I googled him and were sooo suspicious of his lack of IMDB credits.  This was a Saturday.  I became obsessed with figuring this guy out.  Then I realized his email was open, found some weird stuff and a private blog.  

 

This has been like living a real life crime drama.  My favorite channel is Investigation Discovery.  The stuff he has done makes absolutely no logical sense.  His lies are just insane, and he can tell these lies so easily.  

 

When Ray is "successful" for a longer period of time, it is usually with someone that has been abused, someone that has a lack of life experience and is far too trusting, people that are going through a bad time in their lives and are vulnerable.  He didn't hurt me, he didn't steal from me, but he scared the hell out of me.  I have met bad people, but he is the worst.  I definitely grew up and stopped running at night and things like that.  In other words, it was a reality check in terms of realizing that there are really bad people in the world and I might in fact meet them.  Most importantly, I think he is a predator and will be dangerous when he is backed into a corner.

 

THOSE ORANGE TEETH!  VOMIT!

 @Beth Tenney  @RalphCramden Thanks Beth!! I would be interested to see the forum where people are discussing their experiences with him. The psychology of Sociopaths fascinates me. My daughter's dad was one and I dealt with him for 2 years before finally getting away. That is probably why I could see it within minutes when I looked at Ray. 

 

And everyone should know he is a terrible and very stupid liar. The idiot tried to tell me he could speak German and give us a tour of Germany in the fall. His lies fall apart when people like me who lived in Germany for 7 years and both parents are fluent German ask him to do something as simple as say the days of the week. He couldn't even do that.

 

He also told us he was from Chicago to two of my friends who grew up there. They told me that they could immediately tell that he didnt grow up in Chicago.

 

He told my roommate he worked on a Nova documentary with Dr Neal Degrasse Tyson, yet couldn't remember his real name. My roommate had to tell him the correct name.

 

He also said that he didnt know what Park City was when I asked him if he had been there, then suddenly remembered that he had been to Park City multiple times for the Sundance Film Festival where he partied with celebrities at private film functions.

 

The problem with this guy is that he appears smart upfront and talks a big game. My friends and I had him pegged within a few hours. Its much easier though to spot a con man when they have nothing to thier name, and noone actively helping them out. It also helps to have all this stuff on the internet when you do get his real name out of him from checking his ID.

 

HA! Idiot...

 

 

 @RalphCramden  @Sarah Berry The part of the story that has not emerged, is Ray's history.  Ray was more believable when this all started after his mother passed in 2004.  We believe Ray pretended to attend Notre Dame for a while, then pretended to attend Full Sail.  Ray first started his major scam network when he lived in Florida.  Ray started out by setting up a "home base" in a city, and meeting numerous women and telling the "home base" woman that he was traveling and working on movies and such.  He has pictures of his fake life and pets (they are usually pets belonging to the long term victims) and even pictures with celebrities.  When he left his email open at my place, I discovered a draft email to fake Warner Bros. addreses, discussing work.  He actually created that fake email to show to someone if they asked him what he was doing (we later learned from another victim).  

 

I watch WAY TOO MUCH Investigation Discovery to ever even travel alone...so I didn't meet him couch surfing, I met him on Match.com.  He was paying for it with stolen cc numbers, of course.  Also, he paid for drinks (probably with a stolen cc) the night I met him and I didn't get the mugging story when I met him.

 

What we are seeing now is Ray running out of options.  SInce the website went up about a year ago, it is becoming more and more difficult for Ray to lie about who he is.  Ray's only claims to fame (Contagion and VS...both colossal F-ups) are tied to his name and some not-so-savvy women have fallen for those minor credits.  However, the www.rayholycross.com site has popped up #1 on google for the past year, so he has been virtually trapped.  

 

Apparently, Ray's itch to manipulate, lie, ruin, trick more people, feed his sick ego grew too strong so he made a run for it a couple of weeks ago.  By now, Ray has burned every bridge.  Ray has ruined every opportunity that people have offered him to actually make something of himself.  Ray finally burned every family bridge.  

 

The scary part now, is that Ray's lies and crimes will have to get bigger for him to escape this.  He literally has nothing.  Numerous women have reported that when Ray is backed into a corner it is like cornering a possum.  He flips from smug charming to mean and abusive.

 

Folks, what we have here is a real like Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" or Matt Damen's character in "The Talented Mr. Ripley."  We are seeing a Ted Bundy in the making.  

 

A group of 30+ of us got together and have shared our personal stories with each other (from a few lies, scams to long-term "serious" relationships.  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this man is a monster.  He is a monster.

 

So Ralph, get off of your judgmental horse and stop bashing Sarah.  THe man is sick, demented, a sociopath, delusional, intelligent and extremely convincing at times.  He is so confident that you can overlook things.  He can be so nice that things are overlooked.  He plays on people's heart strings.  Unfortunately, he has found a lot of people with big hearts and he has taken advantage of them.  One woman he met on couchsurfing in Idaho was an older, grandmotherly-type.  He manipulated her into giving him a good review.  

 

So, zip it, or I will continue to insult your manhood.

 @Beth Tenney  @RalphCramden  Beth- I know!  there was even better content- I said "Toothbrush, condoms, and axe body spray, Everything a player needs!!" But it didnt get caught on the camera.

 

The only think i wish is that somewhere on the google search it would have said "call the police immediately" Cause at the time i still didnt know if it was jealous ex setting him up. In retrospect i would have not told him i found that stuff and called the cops. Unfortunately they dont want him in Salt Lake so they may not have even arrested him.

 

They also left out the part that i left him with nothing but a little money and a passport. in his pockets. He didnt even have a change of clothes.

 @Beth Tenney  

 

“If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.” Elbert Hubbard

 

If conversing with me is a waste of time why are you still dong it?

 

Interesting.

 

 @Sarah Berry  @RalphCramden Sarah, I think you did the right thing by confronting him in public and, as I said earlier (I deleted it) thanks for the hilarious news piece going through the bag.  LOLZ.  

 @Sarah Berry  @RalphCramden Sarah, just so we are clear, I am ripping on Chief Wiggum the misogynist, definitely not you.  I don't think anyone needs to validate themself to this idiot.  

 

Ralphy does your wife only have sex with you on Tuesday's and make you do too many chores?  Go work out your women issues with a therapist and stop trolling on women from behind your computer.  THanks!

 @Beth Tenney  @RalphCramden  I have a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Utah, however i'm done validating myself. I also suggest you research couchsurfing.org to find out the details about that social network- you might find it interesting how many thousands of people are using it safely, the same way that online dating can be used safely of you know what you are getting yourself into.

 

I knew about Ray the second I looked into his eyes, it just took me a couple hours to confirm.  It really doesn't matter where or how I met him. Others met him because he was a member of their family and he still stole from them.  Some others were long term girlfriends for months or years and he stole from them too.

 

Bottom line is the guy is a total creeper- I hope he didn't head from Salt Lake to Vegas where he could get lost forever in the sea of strangers.

 @RalphCramden  when I read your posts I actually hear Ralph Wiggum speaking.  I already realized that trying to reason with an imbecile is a complete and utter waste of time.  So, tip tap away on that computer.  LOL!

 @Beth Tenney  @Sarah Berry 

 

Beth is now down to doing hit and run commenting. She post personal insults and leaves them long enough to find their way to my email address and then deletes them.

 

It appears that being an adult is not part of her skill set.

 

Here is the email she sent me.

 

"Beth Tenney said

 @RalphCramden  @Sarah Berry Ralph sure is an angry little man.  I bet you are 5'6 and hung like a mosquito.  And yes, a degree doesn't mean much, but consistently making 6 figures for 10 years does.  So please continue on your misogynist tirade.  We do not need to consult with Freud to know that you are a small weak man with a tiny, tiny penis."

 

When she runs out of reasoned and logical comments she reverts to insults.

 

 @Sarah Berry 

I find it equally advantageous to both stop Holycross and educate folks to be vigilant in their dealings with "fellow travelers".

 

As for your degree it means nothing. I know lots of folks who have degrees and don't have a lick of common sense. Plus my guess is that you have some sort of arts degree which are really worthless. Now if you had a science degree then I would be impressed.

 

If you did have some common sense then you would not have invited an unknown stranger to sleep on your couch. This defies all logic and is really proof that all your education didn't do much for you. In fact I would go back to the college you went to and demand your money back because the failed to teach you about real life.

 

Thankfully you realized early on who he was and severed the relationship and for that I give you thumbs up. 

 @Beth Tenney  @Sarah Berry 

 

Wow, I am impressed. A law degree. You really are special. Who would have thought that you would stoop so low to converse with us commoners. Should I bow down to you or call you "your highness"?

 

I have two degrees and finishing my masters. I also have a very high IQ.

 

What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. As my wife said, anyone can get a college degree (she has a BS and MBA). They just have to show up and do the work. That is a pretty good assessment of education today.

 

You go ahead and worship your degree. I prefer common sense (which is pretty uncommon) and critical thinking skills (which is also uncommon). Common sense cannot be taught to most folks. Some of the stupidest folks I have ever seen have advanced degrees and no one lick of common sense.

 

I suggest you get over yourself, learn some humility, and find a store that has a sale on reality because you don't live in the same reality us commoners do.

Ralph,

 

Correcting grammer and rudimentary elementary/middle school english skills during a debate is amateaur at best. We are not on here to pick apart each other's written language finesse. Also, you realize that i said Dahmer and you know I meant Bundy. Also another correction of basic skills that is irritating and amateaur.

 

>- Insert start of new paragraph:

 

If I were currently in college (which i graduated with a bachelors degree and a 3.5 GPA) I would care whether or not I was using proper punctuation and grammer. But since I'm not I dont care whether i use paragraphs, CAPS, slang, ackronyms, abbreviations, alliterations, parabalas, hyperbolies, or swahilie.

 

>- Insert next paragraph:

 

You are done with me and I'm glad about that. I still hope that at the end of the day you spend your time and energy trying to stop this guy, rather than trying to mentally and verbally abuse the women that are trying to warn others about him.

 

>- Insert final paragraph:

 

I am not this stupid, niaeve, "making all of this up",  frivilous, inexperienced, dingbat that you are trying to make me out to me. I have a professional career, a college degree, have traveled the world, been taken advantage of, know what I'm getting myself into, and a generally observant female that is in charge of my life, my own well being, and knows what other people are about. I hope for you that you realize soon what I am trying to tell you. It is more important that you spread the word about this guy Ray Holycross than it is to try to further victimize the women that wanted to trust and help him. Stop trying to abuse us further and turn your efforts to catching a predator.

 

 

 @Beth Tenney  @RalphCramden  @Sarah Berry 

 

"Trust me"!!! Are you kidding? I have no idea who you are.

 

Sure I might like him if I met him in person. Con artists are pretty easy going folks. But I have knows lots of con artists and many have tried to scam me.

 

I worked the streets for over 30 years and can smell BS 10 blocks away. It would take a lot to scam me because I am not the trusting type unless they have a very long track record with me.

 

I am a consummate skeptic and have heard all the lies, all the excuses, all the stores and know when I am being scammed. It's called profiling and con artists have an MO that is similar to other scam artists.

 

Trust me.

 @Beth Tenney  @RalphCramden  @Sarah Berry 

 

I can make myself look pretty good on the internet. I can even give myself good reviews.

 

My friend owns a car repair shop and he created a dozed alias's and posted really good reviews online for his services.

 

About 3 years ago I had a problem with a product from a company that is now out of business. I told them that I was publishing my complaints about them online after they refused to do anything about their crappy product.

 

I started creating fake personas and then emailed the company saying I would not do business with them because of the reviews they saw online about them. Within a month the company called and said they were going to replace the defective product. No one that I know of really sent and email to them. It was all me and all my fake emails.

 

One of my fake guys actually started generating junk mail through the US postal service to the address 1234 SE Main Street in Portland. There is no address but I asked the carrier who delivers mail there and he said there is a guy who gets a lot of mail at that address. That is the guy I created.

 

If you believe everything on the internet you will soon be a victim.

 

 

 

 

 @Sarah Berry 

 

Please, please use paragraphs.

 

And if you read my posts I said nothing about Dahmer. You are really confused and just make up crap that was never said.

 

If you deny that there is a record of my posts for anyone to read.

 

I'm done with you. I really understand how you could let some stranger come and sleep on your couch. It is very clear now.

 

And you will be a victim because you are really clueless.

you have missed the point entirely. he did not victimize me. I am smarter than he is and caught him in his lies before he could take anything from me. He is also too skinny and pastey for me to ever be interested in him so it had nothing to do with emotions. he didnt victimize couchsurfers, he victimized women that he was dating and unless your daughters do not date they certainly could be next. So... what you need to do is not sit around on your judgemental high horse and assume your daughters are" too smart" to participate in couchsurfing, online dating, or helping out a cute guy that claims to have been mugged and instead show them his picture and say "if you ever see this guy he is a sociopath and has robbed many other men and women. Call the police". People date strangers all the time. It could happen to anyone including your daughters. You sir are the one that is naieve and appears to be isolated from the world around you if you think there is some formula you can apply to avoid being victimized by a predator. According to your own earlier statements about Dahmer you are at risk of being serial killed just by being in your own home.

 @Sarah Berry  

 

My daughters would not be next. They know better than to invite some stranger into their house to spend the night on the couch.

 

Because he is "intelligent, attractive and personable" means that reason and logic are no longer part of the equation. Ted Bundy was also "intelligent, attractive and personable".

 

Emotion should not be the driving motivator in any situation.

@RalphCramden the underbelly of society is easy enough to deal with. I have no issues there and you are right- I could have become a victim the same way anyone can become a victim at any time, at any place including thier own home when there is a predator on the loose.  The reason that this guy is in the news and noteworthy is because he is intelligent, attractive and personable. That is much harder to deal with than your everyday scumbag. I dont have an isolated lifestyle and am well aware of what goes on in the world which is what tipped me off to him in the firstplace- within hours of meeting him. For some other unfortunate victims he was able to con them for months and even years. It would be nice if it were legal to brand sociopaths on thier face so everyone could see it. Ralph, Lets be honest here. I'm an attractive, successful, intelligent woman. If I expressed an interest in meeting any one of the men on this comment thread- especially if I had a sob story about being victimized, I can guarantee I would get at least one bite if not plenty more from the exact same guys that use the term "desparate" and "pathetic" to describe women whose only crimes were loving someone, trusting someone, trying to help someone etc... The problem wasnt me trying to help Ray. The problem is that Ray is a sociopath that is attractive and charming. And hes out preying on good women. Be sure to tell your daughter and everyone else you know about this guy cause they could be next.

 @Sarah Berry  

 

Well that says it all.

 

You risked your life to help a "fellow traveler" which was not very smart. I worked the streets for over 30 years and you have no idea what kind of dangerous folks there are out there. My guess is that you live a pretty isolated life style and don't deal much with the underbelly of society.

 

Rethink your decision making process. If not, more than likely you will become a "victim".

 

@ralph cramden you are right- i suppose i am lumping you in with the rest of the posters that are hating on this and other women for coming forward. perhaps this "stephanie" should have not told anyone about this or warned them becuase she should be ashamed of her actions and worried what others might think of her. Also I hope you never get in a car accident becuase i will be the first to tell you that you must have had a "kill me im too stupid to live" sign on your back for having gotten in a car knowing that more people die in automobile accidents than ever get serial killed from online predators. This blaming behavior is the reason that these guys exist.  If people stopped pointing out the faults of victims, victims would stop being ashamed and come forward more often. The predators would stop thinking that they can get away with this stuff. Also as a side note "stephanie" is really me. I was in a busy public place when i confronted Ray about his lies next to the security guards where we were. I thought I was helping a fellow traveler who had multiple references on his couchsurfing profile from the previous weeks he had spent at other's houses. They were as shocked as I was when we found out who he was. Its time to stop blaming people for trying to help thier fellow man. Its not thier fault that there are sociopaths in the world ruining it for everyone else. Dont let the terrorists win with fear and blame.

 @Sarah Berry 

 

You are really deceived and making this stuff up.

 

I said nothing about the ladies in Oregon in my post. It was all about this girl who put herself in danger and is pretty clueless.

 

Here is my post in case you are too lazy to scroll up and look at it. Show me where I said anything about the ladies in Oregon!!!

 

"

This whole thing is just too weird.

 

There is a web site for couch surfing? And women actually go there to offer their couch to some stranger? Ted Bundy was born a few decades too early. He would have loved that site and made good use of it.

 

The girl was looking at the information of this guy with him right there? Does she have a sign on her back that says "Kill me, I am too stupid to live."?

 

She should have looked him up when he wasn't there and then called the police right away while he was still there.

 

She is lucky she isn't dead. While this guy does not seem to be violent that could change. The idea of getting caught and spending some time in jail could change his MO. And he may find that he like killing and become a serial killer."

 

right- actually she wasnt a victim. good for her. and you are balming the other victims of this guy by even remarking that they had put themselves in danger. More people are abused/assaulted by people they know in thier own homes than by strangers in "dangerous" scenarios. What does it need to take for men to stop blaming a woman for "allowing themselves" to be abused by men? Does he have to put a wedding ring on her finger?  Have her bear his children?  Really? At what point in time would you be willing to say that it was the criminals fault and not the victims?

 @Sarah Berry  

 

I'm blaming the victim???? Are you serious?

 

I was just correcting your false statement that Bundy picked up his victims at the grocery store.

 

The woman who came forward in this case put herself in danger. No one else did it. It was her decision. Pretty straight forward.

 

She was also not a victim. No crime was committed in her situation and he couldn't be arrested for his interaction with her.

@RalphCramden you say Ted Bundy broke into people's residences. Clearly since I am sitting in my own residence right now I am in fact in danger. I should go outside immediately so noone breaks in and serial kills me the way Ted Bundy did. Your logic is flawed. You are blaming a victim. Would you blame yourself if someone broke into your car becuase you didnt have bullet proof glass for windows?