Colo. father posts fake obituary of 7-year-old son

Jennifer Stretch, right, walks with her son. / CBS Denver

(CBS News) Investigators and the mother of a healthy 7-year-old Denver-area boy are wondering why the boy's father would post a fake obituary about the 1st grader.

CBS Denver reports the obit, published in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent last month, states the boy passed away at Children's Hospital and is survived by his father, Jason McCoy and his mother Bethany Tharp. But Tharp is just McCoy's girlfriend, not the boy's mother, and the boy isn't dead.

Man prints fake obit of mom to get time off

The boy's real mother, who lives with her son in Arapahoe County, said the obit might just be about getting "attention."

"I don't know. I feel like his girlfriend is a part of it," Jennifer Stretch told CBS Denver.

Stretch asked news outlets to not show his face or publish his name. He doesn't know about the incident yet, but said he would probably eventually find out.

"It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. And, you know, I feel like he's gone off the deep end," Stretch told CBS reporter Jodi Brooks of her ex-husband.

Tharp's Facebook page recently featured updates about the boy's health, writing about tumors, being moved from a sterile bubble to an ICU room and then cremated. Those posts have since been removed.

One friend wrote in response, "Sorry to hear about your loss."

Stretch said her son's father contacted her about the situation and "asked me to let it lie, whatever that means, to just leave it alone."

Currently, there are no charges pending against McCoy. But police in New Castle, where Stretch lives, said they opened an investigation into the situation.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff's office said the case also got their attention and sent an officer to the school to confirm the boy was alive and safe.

[gnimelf1968]

I agree that the boy shouldn't be near the couple, but it sounds like it is the girlfriend that has the loose screws. She's the one making things up on her facebbok page, she's probably the one that submitted the obit.

[IAMCS]

Ok, let the child be dead then...to him! The real mom should NEVER let him see him again. Of course she is at the mercy of our crazy judicial system who send kids to their death all the time.

[skeezix06]

I agree. He shouldn't be allowed to see his son.

[SUZAMBA]

Never, Ever, let this man near this child again. There isn't one good reason to have something like that printed. He should be banned from ever having any contact with his son.

[DWileyOne]

Please, please, please do not let this man around this child.

[DWileyOne]

I would STRONGLY advise the mother to seek sole custody and no visitation at all. Someone posting an obit for their alive-and-well 7-year-old son is SICK and should not be trusted around this child. Remember Josh Powell and what happened to his two little boys.

[TBL73]

I wonder if he thought he could use that stuff to get a judge to vacate the child support order?

[rwsmith29456]

Sick father.

[ttipbc]

What a screwed-up person. The mother, if she doesn't have it already, needs to be given sole custody of the child & the so-called father denied ANY visitation & a restraining order issued against him. Sounds like he wants his child dead - why the hell would a father do something like this, especially against a 7-year old? Remember Josh Powell, & unfortunately, countless others? Law enforcement & child protective services should not take this jerk lightly.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

there's something wrong with this man, to say the least.