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When someone threatens parents with calling CPS, it can definitely send them into a panic. However, data shows that in the U.S., up to 64.3% of maltreatment reports turn out to be unsubstantiated. Still, that doesn’t stop family members from causing parents unnecessary stress and stirring up drama.
The kind of drama this “Hamburgler” stepmother unleashed on this young family is one for the ages. The wife shared their story online in a seven-part saga, and what started off as stolen food from the pantry and a call to CPS turned into a Hollywood-worthy thriller involving a golf club to a window, police, and a heartbreaking loss of a pregnancy.
RELATED:
A mother of two had to deal with her unhinged stepmom’s threats to involve CPS
Woman sitting on couch with face in hands looking stressed, related to couple suspecting step-mom food theft incident.
Two years later, it turned out the husband wasn’t the perfect loving man, either
In the “Hamburgler” saga, the woman’s husband comes across as a caring, doting man. Perhaps he’s not home that often because of his work, but many readers probably thought that she had a good anchor and source of support in him.
Sadly, that turned out to be false. After two years, the Redditor came back with another story, this time about what drove her to separate from her husband. Apparently, one evening, he threw a tantrum about dinner and almost got physically violent.
He didn’t like the way she had prepared the meatloaf and started yelling at her. Then, as she went to check her blood sugar, he grew even angrier, claiming that she only has diabetes because it’s convenient when they fight.
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“He ripped the monitor from my hands and chucked it at the wall, busting it open,” u/petrichorluna wrote. “While I stood there in shock, he threw away the case with all of my extra strips and lancets, then opened my glucose tablets and dumped them out in the trash too. He dumped out the meatloaf I had just spent hours making too.”
The wife chose not to escalate the argument, finished her dinner, put the kids to sleep, and went to bed herself. “The next day was payday for me, and I spent every cent of my check on deposits for an apartment for me and my boys,” the woman detailed.
As for the husband, he went to stay with his mother in another state. “The last couple weeks have been hard as hell, and he’s been super nasty, and I’m still not even sure how to go about getting a divorce in Louisiana, but at least I don’t live with someone who thinks I’m making up a disease I’ve had the entire time I’ve known him just so he doesn’t scream at me about dinner,” the Redditor wrote.
Luckily, she was able to get away from him together with her children
In her last update three years ago, u/petrichorluna shared how she was able to get out of the marriage with full custody of her children. A few days after the violent incident, the woman went to the police with a recording of the whole ordeal from their kitchen security camera and pressed charges.
She didn’t go into detail about what happened next, but later updated people that she’s living with her two boys, divorced from her husband. “The kids and I are safe – the two-year-old is four now, and the big kid is about to turn 8. Life isn’t super easy, but we’re together and they know nothing but love.”
She explained how there were always minor red flags in her husband’s behavior; she just chose not to see them back then. “He didn’t scream at me and he told me he loved me, he was wonderful and ‘kind’ even as he did everything he could to make me completely reliant on him.”
“As our marriage progressed, things got steadily worse. This incident was the first time I was able to recognize what he was doing was [mistreatment], but when you look back there was always a pattern,” the Redditor now sees clearly. “I’ve done a lot of healing and can recognize what I’ve been through.”
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Commenters urged the mom to hold her father accountable and rein in the evil stepmother
Reddit comments discussing a couple suspecting step-mom of stealing food, risking a CPS visit.
Advice discussion about couple suspects wife's step-mom stealing food leading to potential CPS involvement.
Reddit discussion about a couple suspecting step-mom of stealing food leading to a CPS visit and advice on changing locks.
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Screenshot of an online comment discussing suspicion of food theft by a step-mom leading to potential CPS involvement.
Text conversation discussing concerns about a CPS visit related to suspected food theft by a step-mom.
Reddit user advises a couple dealing with a step-mom stealing food to install security cameras and change locks.
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Text post discussing a couple suspecting step-mom stole their food and involved CPS to take their children.
Comment urging to file reports and expose a suspected food-stealing step-mom to warrant a CPS visit involving a couple.
Comment discussing suspicions around wife's step-mom stealing food and possible CPS involvement in family disputes.
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Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing concerns about a CPS visit and food theft by a step-mom suspect.
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Text discussing a couple suspecting step-mom of stealing food, causing concerns about a CPS visit.
Text discussing advice on handling a suspected food theft by step-mom to prepare for a CPS visit.
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ALT text: Detailed family advice discussing a couple suspecting wife's step-mom of stealing food to prompt a CPS visit.
Comment saying a person hurt children to steal them, expressing anger and calling the person awful.
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Comment suggesting security cameras aimed at the pantry to catch a food-stealing step-mom in a couple's kitchen.
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Comment discussing police involvement and reporting a CPS visit related to suspected food theft by wife’s step-mom.
Comment discussing a stepmom stealing food and causing a potential CPS visit involving a couple’s family issues.
Text comment discussing how the author's kids never understood past fights or losses involving a couple or friends.
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Comment discussing lack of security cameras and advice on asking neighbors for footage in a food stealing dispute.
Comment suggesting reporting stolen food to police and using home insurance to reclaim food value after a suspected food theft.
Comments discussing suspicion of stepmom stealing food, referencing CPS visit and nickname Hamburglar for theft.
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Comment discussing suspected food theft by step-mom and the resulting CPS involvement in a family dispute.
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User comment discussing suspicions about step-mom stealing food and mentioning CPS involvement, related to couple suspects.
Text excerpt from a former CPS worker explaining family food theft suspicions and CPS procedures for neglect cases.
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Comment discussing the importance of filing a police report in a CPS visit involving food theft by a step-mom.
However, the father refused to believe his wife was capable of any of this, driving a wedge between him and his daughter
Stressed woman on phone near window, reacting to food theft by wife's step-mom causing couple's CPS visit concerns.
At least the dad finally had enough: “They’re officially separated now”
Couple suspects step-mom of stealing all their food, causing tension and potential CPS involvement in their household dispute.
Online discussion about a couple suspecting wife's step-mom of stealing food leading to a CPS investigation.
Reddit conversation about couple suspecting step-mom of stealing food, causing tension and potential CPS involvement.
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Alt text: Online discussion about couple suspecting wife's step-mom of stealing food leading to a CPS investigation.
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Hi there, fellow pandas! As a person (over)educated both in social sciences and literature, I'm most interested in how we connect and behave online (and sometimes in real life too.) The human experience is weird, so I try my best to put its peculiarities in writing. As a person who grew up chronically online, I now try to marry two sides of myself: the one who knows too much about MySpace, and the one who can't settle and needs to see every corner of the world.
Hi there, fellow pandas! As a person (over)educated both in social sciences and literature, I'm most interested in how we connect and behave online (and sometimes in real life too.) The human experience is weird, so I try my best to put its peculiarities in writing. As a person who grew up chronically online, I now try to marry two sides of myself: the one who knows too much about MySpace, and the one who can't settle and needs to see every corner of the world.
I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat
I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat
Well, I'm usually all for just reading these kinds of posts as if they were basically entertaining short stories, but this one was a little wild even for me to enjoy as "fiction". It's also worth noting that I checked OP's post history on Reddit to see if there were any further updates, and after slogging through a number of posts where OP is apparently asking for people on Reddit to loan them money(???), apparently her "teddy bear" husband who "has never in his life dreamed of laying a hand on another person" apparently ALSO turned out to be a complete psycho and screamed at her and slapped her glucose monitor out of her hand because he doesn't "believe" she has diabetes. So. I dunno XD I can usually just enjoy these as fiction, but it really felt like OP was writing some crazy fanfic in the "poor me" genre here.
"MiL/sis/stepmom called CPS on me" stories are very much flavour of the month at the moment, and have now got to the point of one-upmanship from creative writers always trying to make out that their experience is even worse than the last one they read. Too long and too much detail, with the offending stepmom apparently being able to be arrested and set free while breaking her restraining order multiple times with complete impunity.
All from the same user too “Sorry to hear that about u/petrichorluna u/BCboneless.
If you were expecting more loans to be affected, verify the following about the missing loans:
• The loans are not already marked repaid.
• The loans are not already marked unpaid.
• The borrowers name is spelled correctly.
• The loan was created correctly: locate the comment where you made the $loan command and verify the LoansBot responded.
If after this it is still not clear why some loans are missing, contact the moderators and include a link to the loan command and this comment.
Here's the new state of u/petrichorluna:
Mobile View
u/petrichorluna has 13 loans paid as a borrower, for a total of $7900.00
u/petrichorluna has not given out and had completely paid back any loans.
Loans unpaid with u/petrichorluna as borrower Loans unpaid with u/petrichorluna as borrower (1 loan, $800.00):
Lender
Borrower
beboneless
petrichorluna
Amount Given
800.00 “ I didn’t even know this was a thing on Reddit
Did you see the comments on the latest post about someone basically loaning her in unclear if it was 1000$ or 800$ or 1800$ but W*F lol I need to start begging on Reddit?! Jkjkjk that blew my mind 🫣
So are you of the poor me and trying to get free stuff from people thinking or just complete BS thinking? Idk if it wasn’t clear or I’m misreading or if you think it’s both? Lol
The BP post said something about her seven part series of posts and that the husband said she only has diabetes “because it’s convenient when we fight” 🤷🏼♀️
I don't believe it for a second. There's no way someone this dangerous to s woman and her children could keep getting out. Her behavior would have triggered an immediate psych evaluation and forced 72 hour lock up.
Well, I'm usually all for just reading these kinds of posts as if they were basically entertaining short stories, but this one was a little wild even for me to enjoy as "fiction". It's also worth noting that I checked OP's post history on Reddit to see if there were any further updates, and after slogging through a number of posts where OP is apparently asking for people on Reddit to loan them money(???), apparently her "teddy bear" husband who "has never in his life dreamed of laying a hand on another person" apparently ALSO turned out to be a complete psycho and screamed at her and slapped her glucose monitor out of her hand because he doesn't "believe" she has diabetes. So. I dunno XD I can usually just enjoy these as fiction, but it really felt like OP was writing some crazy fanfic in the "poor me" genre here.
"MiL/sis/stepmom called CPS on me" stories are very much flavour of the month at the moment, and have now got to the point of one-upmanship from creative writers always trying to make out that their experience is even worse than the last one they read. Too long and too much detail, with the offending stepmom apparently being able to be arrested and set free while breaking her restraining order multiple times with complete impunity.
All from the same user too “Sorry to hear that about u/petrichorluna u/BCboneless.
If you were expecting more loans to be affected, verify the following about the missing loans:
• The loans are not already marked repaid.
• The loans are not already marked unpaid.
• The borrowers name is spelled correctly.
• The loan was created correctly: locate the comment where you made the $loan command and verify the LoansBot responded.
If after this it is still not clear why some loans are missing, contact the moderators and include a link to the loan command and this comment.
Here's the new state of u/petrichorluna:
Mobile View
u/petrichorluna has 13 loans paid as a borrower, for a total of $7900.00
u/petrichorluna has not given out and had completely paid back any loans.
Loans unpaid with u/petrichorluna as borrower Loans unpaid with u/petrichorluna as borrower (1 loan, $800.00):
Lender
Borrower
beboneless
petrichorluna
Amount Given
800.00 “ I didn’t even know this was a thing on Reddit
Did you see the comments on the latest post about someone basically loaning her in unclear if it was 1000$ or 800$ or 1800$ but W*F lol I need to start begging on Reddit?! Jkjkjk that blew my mind 🫣
So are you of the poor me and trying to get free stuff from people thinking or just complete BS thinking? Idk if it wasn’t clear or I’m misreading or if you think it’s both? Lol
The BP post said something about her seven part series of posts and that the husband said she only has diabetes “because it’s convenient when we fight” 🤷🏼♀️
I don't believe it for a second. There's no way someone this dangerous to s woman and her children could keep getting out. Her behavior would have triggered an immediate psych evaluation and forced 72 hour lock up.
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