Sound Familiar? | EP 5

**Stephanie Young** (0:03)
After Laura was barred from speaking with Clayton, she became hyperactive online. She began repeatedly reaching out to online content creators like Dave Neal to refute their claims. Around this time, Dave got an interesting email from a Howard University student.

**Dave Neal** (0:22)
It is basically a press release that is titled Unpacking Racial Insensitivity by somebody named Chase J. Jones. This whole unpacking of racial insensitivity is Clayton dancing on TikTok to a song where the song had the n-word.

**Stephanie Young** (0:38)
It seemed like Clayton couldn't catch a break. Dave tried to reach out to Chase J. Jones to talk on the phone.

**Dave Neal** (0:44)
Crickets. I hear nothing. I'm going, you know I can't report this story if I can't even confirm who this person is.

**Stephanie Young** (0:52)
But Chase kept following up, asking Dave to cover the story. The fact that Chase wouldn't get on the phone raised alarm bells for Dave. He and his audience began to suspect that maybe Chase J. Jones didn't exist at all.

**Dave Neal** (1:08)
Chase J. Jones became the most interesting, like Loch Ness monster, a bigfoot, if you will, a mystery.

**Stephanie Young** (1:16)
Dave started to wonder if the Howard University student emailing him was actually who he said he was. I'm Stephanie Young, and this is Love Trapped.
On November 2nd, 2023, a judge granted Clayton Echard an injunction against harassment. You heard those proceedings on the last episode. That meant Laura was legally prohibited from speaking to Clayton. For Clayton, the legal barrier worked. The messages finally stopped. But the silence was an illusion. Laura had found a new focus.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:20)
Laura then started harassing journalists who were telling this story.

**Dave Neal** (2:25)
She contacted me within the first video or two where I started to doubt her story.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:30)
I'm sending you this email because I'm required to give you 30 days to retract your statements before I sue for defamation.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:37)
She reports my video and it gets taken down.

**Stephanie Young** (2:41)
By filing to establish paternity in the courts and by going to the tabloids, Laura had opened the door to public commentary. After her restraining order hearing was live streamed, everyone online knew her name. She couldn't hide. Clips from the hearings were going viral. Dave Neal started getting more frequent emails from Laura. She was not happy.

**Dave Neal** (3:05)
It's hard to explain to somebody how the hairs on your neck immediately go up when you see you get an email from Laura Owens.

**Stephanie Young** (3:12)
Dave had been covering Laura and Clayton's story nearly every day since it first broke. His audience were the ones who first discovered her name and inconsistencies in the evidence she provided. Dave became a lightning rod, a target of Laura's rage.

**Dave Neal** (3:27)
I was threatened nearly immediately by Laura that she was going to sue the hell out of me if I cover this.

**Stephanie Young** (3:34)
Laura might have seen Dave as the instigator of the doubt and criticism she was experiencing. But the truth was, the story had taken on a life of its own. It basically took over the Bachelor Reddit, so much so that a new sub was established, r slash Laura Owens.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:53)
This one was dedicated to Laura Owens and things we found out about her and about her past.

**Stephanie Young** (4:00)
This is a woman who goes by the online username, schnitzelninja.

**SPEAKER_6** (4:05)
Thought it sounded funny and never really anticipated it was going to be as popular as it is.

**Stephanie Young** (4:13)
She's not a content creator. She's a mom with a job that has nothing to do with being online. And she's a casual fan of The Bachelor. Back in 2023, she had a habit of scrolling through Bachelor News.

**SPEAKER_6** (4:26)
I was very much like a lurker online. Until that r Laura Owens sub was created, and that's when I really started interacting. We're all doing all of this research on her, but like there's always another thing to uncover. There's always another thing we found.

**Stephanie Young** (4:44)
She got sucked into the story, and I can relate. Today schnitzel ninja is a central figure in the online community. We're not going to use her real name.

**SPEAKER_6** (4:54)
Because of Laura, she's intimidating and doesn't shy away from threats.

**Stephanie Young** (5:00)
Schnitzel Ninja stumbled into the story by accident. In September 2023, she was browsing the Bachelor Reddit when she came across Laura's post, the one where Laura said she was the anonymous woman in the Clayton Echard paternity scandal. She believed Laura because who would lie about something like that?