This story just keeps getting worse. When I wrote about this story last week, Johnny Bobbitt had sued the couple who set up a GoFundMe account, claiming they were refusing to give him the money raised for him. This week, a lawyer for Bobbitt revealed that the money was completely gone, suggesting Bobbitt’s was right when he accused the couple of spending it on themselves. Today, police executed a search warrant at the home of Katie McClure and Mark D’Amico. From the Courier Post:

“Due to the enormous public interest in this matter, I am confirming that a search warrant was executed early this morning by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Florence Township Police Department at the residence of Mark D’Amico and Katelyn McClure in connection with a criminal investigation into the Johnny Bobbitt (Jr.) matter,” Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina said in a prepared statement…

“As of this time, there have been no charges filed,” Coffina said in the statement Thursday morning. “Further updates will be provided as circumstances warrant.”

Attorneys for Bobbitt were quick to point out that their lawsuit is a civil action and does not involve police search warrants. So this is a separate criminal investigation. It’s still not clear exactly what police were looking for but it seems they seized some of the couple’s recent acquisitions, including their BMW. Here’s a video of the BMW being loaded onto a flatbed tow truck:

Breaking: BMW in driveway being loaded onto truck as investigators execute search warrant at home of couple accused of defrauding homeless man of gofundme donations. pic.twitter.com/sKin8LTu9D

— Katherine Scott (@KScott6abc) September 6, 2018

BMW hauled away from Bordentown home where authorities executing search warrant. Kate McClure and Mark D’Amico accused of defrauding a homeless veteran of donations. pic.twitter.com/j6DANOmOUd

— Katherine Scott (@KScott6abc) September 6, 2018

Mark D’Amico was seen hitting golf balls outside while the search warrant was being executed:

Mark D’Amico hits golf balls on his lawn while @BurlcoPros serve search warrant at his Bordentown, NJ home. He & girlfriend Katie McClure are being investigated over the alleged mismanagement of $400,000 in GoFundMe donations to homeless vet Johnny Bobbitt @CBSPhilly #Burlco #NJ pic.twitter.com/tNa8BNFLgC

— Trang Do (@TrangDoCBS3) September 6, 2018

He seems pretty relaxed for someone who could be facing charges. Yesterday, NJ.com reported that the couple was considering pleading the 5th:

The New Jersey couple embroiled in a legal dispute over $400,000 they raised for a homeless veteran no-showed a court hearing Wednesday and their attorney told a judge they want to invoke the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Superior Court Judge Paula Dow rejected the request because Kate McClure and her boyfriend Mark D’Amico were not present in the Burlington County courthouse for the second straight hearing in the civil case filed by Johnny Bobbitt.

As for Bobbitt, his attorney says he has entered a 30-day rehab program. This is not his first stint in rehab, so we’ll see if he gets through this one.

The other player in this drama is GoFundMe. The site has provided $20,000 to Bobbitt and is said to be working with authorities in hopes of helping him get all of his money. But if most of the money is gone that obviously can’t happen. If GoFundMe determines that a misuse of funds occurred (as clearly seems the case) then those who donated are entitled to a refund of up to $1,000. Since GoFundMe won’t be getting the money back, that means they will take the hit.

This story is a huge mess. It remains to be seen where the money went but Bobbitt has suggested an online gambling problem might be part of the explanation. As for Jazz’s suggestion that Bobbitt should have just been given the money and allowed to handle it himself, I guess it’s difficult to argue that would have been worse than what seems to have happened here. At least it would be worse if you assume Bobbitt wasn’t going to kill himself and become one of the statistics on drug overdoses which have become so rampant in the last few years. I still think there is a good chance that’s what would have happened, but we can’t know that for certain. Bobbitt’s fate is a counter-factual whereas the couple blowing the money is looking more like a fact.

We’ll know more next week when D’Amico and McClure are scheduled to appear in court.