An Atlanta family says an online copycat hijacked their tragedy, falsely showing that roughly $16,000 had been raised for their 13-year-old son's funeral, money they never saw. Mason Towler, 13, was struck on Interstate 75 near Cleveland Avenue on Jan. 29, 2026, and his parents, Salena Holmes and DeMarko Towler, say they scrambled to cover funeral costs while trying to understand what happened. As they were mourning and fundraising, duplicate pages claiming to collect donations surfaced online, and the family later discovered those pages listed inflated totals that never reached them.
What happened online
According to Atlanta News First, a family friend connected Holmes with Renee Sunshine Lewis, who then launched two GoFundMe campaigns on the family's behalf. Those campaigns brought in about $175 in total before GoFundMe removed them and refunded donors. The outlet reports that Holmes later created her own GoFundMe, which raised roughly $700. Images and text from both GoFundMe pages later appeared on a separate site, GoFundRaiser.org, where a combined total of about $16,000 was displayed. Atlanta News First reports that the copycat pages came down after its investigation, and it remains unclear where any larger totals shown on that site would have gone.
Copycat site appears to be active
The GoFundRaiser homepage bills itself as a global fundraising platform and features trending campaigns along with a prominent "Start a Fundraiser" button, the kind of layout that can easily fool donors who click a shared link without double-checking who is actually running the page. The specific pages tied to Mason that Atlanta News First highlighted were not easy to track down, and the overall design shows how personal photos and stories can be reposted without a family's knowledge or consent. We viewed the site directly to review its listings and user interface.
Local funeral director steps in
Stocks Funeral Home Kirkwood Chapel held Mason's body for nearly a month while the family waited for financial help, and Kyle Stocks, who took over the business last year, ultimately paid for the cremation, service and obituary himself, the family said. "It's a big relief," DeMarko Towler told Atlanta News First, describing what the funeral director did. The ordeal underscores how vulnerable families can be after a sudden death, when they are grieving and trying to pull together enough money for a proper farewell at the same time scammers may be circling.
How to protect donations
GoFundMe's terms state that the company may remove fundraisers that are fraudulent, misleading or otherwise violate its rules, and that refunds can be issued in such cases. The platform also urges users to report suspicious pages through its Help Center under its Terms of Service. The Federal Trade Commission advises donors to research campaigns carefully, check who controls the website domain, be wary of high-pressure appeals and donate directly through known platforms rather than by clicking random links that arrive by text or social media. If you suspect fraud, the agency says you should contact your payment provider, file a complaint with the FTC and, when appropriate, alert local law enforcement.
