An influencer states she moved away from her home state because she was stalked for nearly two years until she was found in her church community via her local Mormon church.
Holly Jane Johnston, a 43-year-old mother, stated that the stalker was a married father of six and an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He began communicating online and eventually began attending her church. Instead of getting the police involved, Johnston decided to relocate and erase herself from any utility bills and other publicly available documents.
“I didn’t get the police involved. I just decided to move,” Johnston said. “When things started getting really crazy, I decided it was time to get out of there.”
As Johnston explained, the man reached out to her on social media and became a devout follower of her account. It appears a payment he made before she created the account exposed her real name, allowing him to determine her place of residence.
“From that, he had my real name, and he was able to use it to figure out what town I lived in,” she said, explaining how scary it is to see how much information he was able to obtain.
Johnston explained that the man then asked her LDS bishop to confirm her ward and church schedule. As Johnston assumed, he gave her all that information, as the man had a job within the church.
“He was trying to narrow down exactly where and when he could find me,” Johnston said.
Johnston said she didn’t confront the bishop, assuming he would explain his actions anyway. Eventually, the man showed up at her church; however, Johnston said she left the service early and wasn’t there.
As Johnston said, the stalking intensified once she turned down his romantic advances. There is one exchange she particularly remembers when the stalking became intense.
“I remember he messaged me and said, ‘It’s going to be a really good day,'” she said. “I replied, ‘Is it?’ He said, ‘That’s what’s on its way.’ I responded, ‘It better not be you.’ That’s when his tone changed. He acted really disappointed and said he thought I would react differently. After that, things started getting really scary.”
“I think his delusion was that I would be so moved by what he was doing that I’d fall head over heels for him,” she said.
Then, the man started sending expensive gifts to Johnston’s house, regardless of their cost. “Having someone send things directly to my home is incredibly violating,” she said.
Johnston said the harassment, which ended about six months ago, made her relocate to another city and another state altogether. Her current address has no utility bills or any other documents in her name. She stated that she didn’t explain to her kids the reasons for her moving, as she wanted to protect them from the stress.
In one case, as Johnston explains, the man made a Sephora account in her name using his credit card and setting a password similar to those she uses everywhere else.
“My stomach dropped,” she said. “He had to have hired a cybersecurity person. There’s just no other explanation.”
As Johnston said, her partner warned her from the beginning that the situation would be much worse than expected; however, her initial response was paranoid thinking about him.
“I had a deep sense of trust in my fans, and I wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt,” she said. “If I’m too cautious, it kind of puts a damper on my business.”
