Help The Watkins Say Goodbye to Their Mom

My name is Karyn, and I’m starting this fundraiser for one of my very best friends, JoAnn Rogers, and her siblings, Terri and Paul. On December 21, just a few short days before Christmas, Paul received a call from the Washington State Police telling him that his mom had died; they’d found her in her car. He then had to take steps to inform his sisters.

Jacqueline JoAnn Watkins Buchan was a mother of three children and had done everything she could to be a good mother in the circumstances provided, like most mothers do. She was always supportive of her family and friends and an active part of her community, including her church, The Salvation Army Temple in Seattle, Washington, which she had attended for 50 years.

JoAnn, Terri, and Paul did not have the opportunity to say goodbye, nor did they have the opportunity to speak to their mom about what was truly going on, so they could help more than they already had. Painfully, JoAnn, Terri, and Paul’s mom was the victim of online fraud and identity theft and was cheated out of most of her material possessions beginning in 2019. As JoAnn’s daughter shared, “She was catfished into thinking she had found someone to spend the rest of her life with, that she was to marry. She believed in the good in the world and did not want to see it for what it was. She was a victim of love and hope.” A woman who had always cared for and provided for those she loved began to lie to her family, leaving them unaware of how bad her situation truly was. Ultimately, she was conned to the point of homelessness. Her children and others did what they could to help, even providing housing or shelter when they could and trying to finance her from states away until they could see her next. Ultimately, their mom died alone in her car in a parking lot in Washington, hiding from those who loved her.

JoAnn and her family are processing this pain and loss. On top of this, the logistics of travel to Washington, a memorial, and a burial are putting a financial toll on the family. Anything will help at this moment and is more than appreciated, and the family thanks everyone and anyone who has taken the time to read Jacqueline’s story.

It is vital to JoAnn that her mother’s story comes out because we all need to be careful online, careful when confiding in those we meet from a distance, and careful trusting those we don’t know. As JoAnn’s daughter perfectly said: “Be careful with your information, always meet them in person, and never take them at face value if they bail out. If it weren’t for them, my grandmother would likely be alive today.”