Note: Some readers appear to think Bree Laro was a journalist for The Minaret. She wasn’t. She was merely a source who lied to Minaret staff members and some of her friends. The Minaret reporter did what he knew to do to confirm her story, but with a “missing” brother, a family who allegedly was too upset to talk and concerned friends who confirmed the lies she had also told them, the story was printed. One can always look back and point out ways — both simple and complex — that the fake could have been caught. This is natural, but obviously, no one had any clue her story was fake until her brother responded to the original article. Again, this was about a source who lied and embellished a story, not a reporter or editor who fabricated an article to advance an agenda either pro- or anti-war. The story begins below.
The “missing” brother of a UT student has come forward to smash his sister’s claims that he disappeared while serving in the Iraq War.
The Minaret has learned that UT student Bree Laro fabricated much of her story about the missing soldier, which was featured in The Minaret’s last issue of the 2006/2007. Laro was the source for the story, not a journalist who reported it. It appears she lied not only to Minaret staff but to her friends as well.
Laro’s brother, Joe Laro, who was actually in the U.S. while Laro was completing a series of interviews, has stepped forward to say he was never missing.
Confronted with his statement, Bree claimed she had never explicitly told The Minaret he was missing. However, suitemates and Bree’s sorority sisters said they were well aware of her “missing” brother. Even after he had returned safely to the states, Bree continued to try to cover her tracks in a series of instant messages and phone conversations.
She later said the news story started when a suitemate overheard Bree offering a friend an idea for a creative writing project. She claimed the whole article resulted from miscommunication, despite confirming her story in a series of interviews and multiple friends who confirmed hearing the same story about Joe’s alleged disappearance.
The Minaret first learned parts of Bree’s story were false when Joe himself posted a comment at the bottom of the original Minaret story. The soldier, who had already been home for weeks, said he was never missing or out of contact with his family.
“Dear everyone who reads this article. This is the real Joe Laro, now back from AFGHANISTAN- NOT IRAQ. Just wanted to make it clear that I was never in Iraq, and never missing, and no little kids ever exploded in front of me. I would greatly appreciate it if you just took this article down because none of it is true.- Joe Laro”
He later confirmed by phone that details his sister provided were false. Bree responded, “I was not aware that the stories were false…I suppose as a little sister, I overhear things and believe what is being said.”
She added, “The story is correct except for all of the army aspects of it.” She said the army aspects were a combination of inaccuracies and stories not intended to be shared.
But the soldier said he had never shared his combat experiences with his sister or anyone else. Bree also said her brother’s leave had been delayed until 2008. However, Joe’s tour of duty was only 365 days, and he is finished, he said.
In a later statement, Bree provided another explanation, claiming her neighbor was having difficulty with a creative writing assignment, and to help him, she told him the story of her brother with some embellishments. Laro claims suitemate Mindy Tucker, who is a Minaret photographer, overheard the conversation and asked Laro to retell the story, including the inaccuracies, to a reporter. But, the photographer dismisses this claim.
“I just told [Bree] that my editor-in-chief wanted to do a story on her brother. I never told her what to say,” Tucker said.
The Minaret photographer said she was not the only one in the suite to be told about Bree’s missing brother. She also heard stories about Joe from her roommate. The roommate reportedly told Tucker that Joe’s platoon was bombed for a second time. Tucker had heard briefly about a previous bombing. After this second alleged bombing, Tucker was informed that Joe had not been found.
A few days later, Tucker told Bree that The Minaret wanted to do a story and she agreed. In the meantime, Bree said Joe had been declared missing in action and authorities had stopped searching for him, Tucker said. Tucker’s roommate, Whitney Lothamer confirmed the account, adding that Tucker telling Bree what to say is “very unlikely.”
“I was under the impression that he was missing, very much so,” Lothamer said.
Bree said Joe had been declared missing in action over a week before Easter, April 8, Lothamer said. Bree told The Minaret April 9 that Joe had not been declared missing in action. She said that it takes time before that occurs.
Lothamer said Bree told her about people approaching Joe’s tanks with bombs, a story similar to the one she told The Minaret. For Bree’s Minaret interview, Lothamer counseled her to tell the newspaper only details that did not upset Bree if it would help. There was no indication from Bree that the interview would not be completely factual, Lothamer said.
When questioned about informing The Minaret that her brother was missing, Bree Laro said she never told The Minaret that Joe was missing. However, Tucker and members of Bree’s Delta Gamma sorority confirmed Bree also told them of his disappearance. Neither members of Delta Gamma, nor The Minaret were informed her brother was actually home in April.
The day the article appeared online (April 27), Bree expressed her appreciation. She made no further comment about the article being online until May 3, the same day Joe Laro left a post on The Minaret’s Web site saying his sister’s story was false.
Bree contacted The Minaret that day and asked if the article could be removed from the web site because of security concerns.
She said her parents feared the article would endanger the family and the soldier, who Bree claimed was still missing. Meanwhile, Joe Laro had been home in Connecticut for more than a week.
“I showed the article to my parents, and they loved it. Although, she [mother Nancy Laro] saw it online, and she asked if it was possible to be taken down,” Bree wrote in a May 3 letter. When pressed, she added her mother was worried “since we are unsure where he is and everything.”
The Minaret apologizes for the misinformation provided to the readers and ensures the newspaper does its best to provide accurate and truthful information.