When I first encountered the countless articles about William Tucker Evans, I was utterly perplexed. Where, amidst all the dishonesty, deceit, and confusion, does the truth about Tucker lie? How do I even begin to piece together the details to create some semblance of an explanation for the situation in front of me? Where do I start? I knew I was being lied to, but I didn't even know which parts were untrue. Was the man behind the cell phone and computer screen a 22 year old Marine from Georgia? Was he, in fact, the man in the pictures, but simply changed his name to protect a secret and hide his true identity? Were both the photos AND the name adopted from two different people, in order to hide an entirely different identity altogether? The possibilities seemed endless, and to say I was overwhelmed would be the understatement of the century.
After taking a day or two to process my newest discoveries, I decided to cast a line out and see what I could gather from Tucker, without explicitly calling his bluff. Tucker had mentioned his baseball days from college, and I used that as my launching pad to fish for more information. During one of our usual conversations, I mentioned I'd love to see a picture of this era - because let's face it, who does not love a handsome man in tight pants AMIRIGHT? Tucker quickly steered clear of the topic, as I hoped he would, and I pounced. I informed him awhile later that I'd Googled it - Google has everything, CERTAINLY a big SEC school's baseball team would be easy to find. I casually mentioned how strange it was that there seems to be a young man with the same name as he, also from Georgia. Strange, right? Without missing a beat, Tucker deflected my curious questioning, admitting he'd read about the other Tucker in the news as well. He mentioned he knew about him, but they grew up on opposite sides of the state, and had never met him. I was disappointed, thinking for certain I'd catch him in the act, but instead it seemed as though I had simply overreacted, and the coincidence theory would prevail. Humph.
After failing to create some sort of dramatic discovery, I reverted back to pre-suspicion conversation with Tucker. I felt stupid for freaking out, and made a mental note to cut back on the OnDemand episodes of CSI at 3am. Tucker and I were in a good place again - talking all day, every day, and falling for each other all over again. We made plans to make dinner together, enjoy a bottle of wine, and spend Saturday night with each other, the dogs, and Netflix.
You already know what's coming, right? Of course you do. I didn't see Tucker on Saturday. This time, he was sick - too sick to even talk on the phone or Skype. My conspiracy theory tendencies fired right back up, and I settled in for a long night in front of the computer, determined to find out exactly what was going on.
My first step was to revisit the Auburn Baseball discussion. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult to pull up an old roster, some stats, or a news article about Tucker's performance on the squad, particularly for such a well known school in the sporting realm. I browsed a decade worth of Auburn rosters for any name that could even remotely resemble Tucker, but unsurprisingly came back empty handed. This solidified in my mind (as if there was any remaining doubt), that whoever I was talking to was not Tucker Evans. Whoever he was, he was using a name that did not belong to him, OR he was lying about his education, his extracurriculars there, and likely the rest of his life as I knew it. Did he even exist? Did he even live in Michigan? Was this some 50 year old pervert who got a sort of sick joy from screwing with the minds of random, unsuspecting girls?
I started to put together a list of the facts as I knew it, to try and help whittle down the list of possible outcomes to the story. Here's what I had:
1) William (Marine Tucker) was not the culprit. The timeline of events simply would not allow him to be the man I was talking to.
2) Tucker did not play baseball for Auburn - if he did, it was under another name.
3) The person I was talking to couldn't be a stranger, hiding behind both a false name AND photos. The Facebook profile was far too detailed and had such a lengthy history that it was impossible for it to be a made up, dummy profile used by a scammer.
This third point is perhaps the most important part of the whole story. Facebook. Tucker added me as a Facebook friend almost immediately after we started talking. I never had to bug him to add me - he did it voluntarily, right away. Because I'm a creep, I fully (oh, and I mean fully) stalked his Facebook profile practically immediately. I almost always do this right away when I'm talking to someone online. It's entirely too easy to pick your five best photos and misrepresent yourself completely via an online dating profile. Facebook is a great tool for getting a better idea of the person you're dealing with, see what their social interactions are like, etc. If any of you are reading and contemplating signing up for OkCupid (you totally should, it's great entertainment), just remember: Facebook is your best friend. Never continue talking to someone who won't add you, I promise it will end poorly. Anyway, my Tucker Facebook stalking findings are as follows:
1) Profile pictures abound. He's not a five-pic-offender with three of the five photos being of him on waterskis, wearing snowboard goggles, or in a huge crowd of people so you can't actually tell if he's deformed, has crazy eyes, or is actually 283 pounds. I find at least three years' worth of profile photos, plenty of close up shots, photos with other people so I know he has friends, etc.
2) Photo albums also abound. Albums of family vacations, friends' weddings, miscellaneous tomfoolery, etc. He seems to have a perfectly healthy social life with a great support system of friends and family.
3) There is a six month hole in his Facebook posting, but it's one that he'd mentioned before even adding me. I knew he'd deactivated his profile for a few months while he was in the final stages of job search/hiring and beginning his new position in Michigan. Seems totally legit - I never think twice.
4) Tucker had told me about a former girlfriend - a girl named Taylor who went to school out in Kansas. Sure enough, after scrolling back a few pages in his wall posts, I start to come across the bountiful postings from Taylor - plenty of I love you's and I miss you's, lots of back and forth between the two, and a healthy amount of pet names and baby talk. Gross, but at least it reaffirms what he'd already told me. Also, Taylor always referred to him as "Tucker", which means this is definitely his name, though she never included a last name.
5) I scrolled back even further, to the girlfriend before Taylor - a girl named Katie. Again, sweet back and forths between she and Tucker confirmed that they were indeed together.
6) While there wasn't a ton of wall posting activity, there were plenty of various friends writing on Tucker's wall throughout the years.
7) I couldn't view any of T's tagged photos. This doesn't bother me, because only about 30 people can view mine on Facebook, so it doesn't seem unusual.
8) I can't view his friends list either, but I also have hidden that before. Again, not a glaring red flag.
9) I decide to creep on the last girl to write on Tucker's wall before his new job induced haitus - a girl named Megan. She had commented on a post of his regarding "catching up with an old friend", in a fashion that made me assume he had been referring to her. I can't see anything on her Facebook page, but I can see she grew up in Whitehall - only about 25 minutes from my own hometown. Small world, right? She and I have a few friends in common, which reassures me that he is clearly friends with REAL people.
10) Upon my stalking of Taylor, Tucker's ex girlfriend, I notice she has nearly a thousand friends, a bevy of Facebook photos, and seems to be a perfectly normal coed enjoying her college years.
11) Another friend used the term "TE" to refer to Tucker - again insinuating that Tucker Evans was, in fact, his name.
This Facebook page would prove to be the single biggest hiccup in the entire Tucker saga. Every time I would think I reached a plausible conclusion to the story, I would go right back to the Facebook page. Clearly whoever was in these photos existed - and even though I knew I was being lied to somehow, I couldn't put my finger on exactly where the untruthfulness was founded. If he wasn't who he said he was, why did have at least four years worth of history on his Facebook? If he wasn't real, how did he have relationships with these people, who would post things like "Can't wait to watch Grey's with you this week!!"? Why was Taylor referring to him as "Tucker", and the other friend as "TE", if he had changed his name to hide his identity?
Major Players
Tucker: who the hell knows anymore.
Kay: hi, still here.
William: the "real" Tucker - 22 year old Marine in Georgia.
Megan: an "old friend" - last to write on T's wall, ironically from West Michigan.
Taylor: the ex-girlfriend who wrote hundreds of wall posts (and even posted VIDEOS on his wall), all in which she refers to him as "Tucker".
...shit's getting real, folks.
Cheers,
Kay
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