Fun And Pretty Things Update - Mrs. Stambler Responds!

In the last FAPT update, Howard mentions that his silverware is being sold by his wife, and a matching ad was found on the Chicago Craigslist.

Many users, including myself, emailed the seller with various types of emails: posing as a legitimate buyer, asking about Howard or Megan, etc.

Unfiction user V37, aka Danny, has had the most success, and has had an ongoing conversation over the last few days.

Danny took the approach of letting Mrs. Stambler know exactly what Howard is up to. He established her trust telling her facts that Howard has revealed, and pointing her towards Howard's voicemail. There is quite a bit of back and forth, explaining how to access the various FAPT websites, but it eventually pays off.

In her final email, she reveals her "real" name to be Denise Paulson (maiden name? remarried?) and tells a frightening story about Howard's extreme "Prepping", and how he has taken things too far. She also suggests that something terrible may have happened to Megan:

I was up all night reading and re-reading everything he wrote. All of it--the ranting and the raving about how evil I am, the page where he shows off how to steal a car. The constant questions to Megan, as if she would or could reply. The simulation "game." I'm very familiar with the kids of games Howard likes to play. He used to wake us up in the middle of the night to do emergency preparedness drills.

Howard was always worried about emergencies. I used to think it was just how he'd learned to see the world from when he was in the Navy. But things got so much worse when he started working at Bold Futura. He used to come home at night and sit through dinner without saying a word. He became obsessed with building his fallout shelter, putting all our money into it. I didn't even think he'd mind too much when we left. That way he could keep building his bunker without anybody to get in his way. But reading everything you've shown me on this site. I can see that it's just made him more obsessed.

This is not the first time he's done this. Every few years there's some new danger that's going to kill us all. But the disaster never happens. And then he just finds something else to obsess about. During one of his panics, he made us hide in the cellar. Megan must have been about 11, and she wouldn't stop asking him why we were hiding. So he put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and kept it there so long that she couldn't breathe. That was the moment I knew that I needed to get us away from him. Maybe if I'd realized it sooner, things wouldn't have turned out so badly.

Danny, thank you so much for showing me this. Please don't take this the wrong way, but don't contact me again. I have to figure out what I"m going to do about this, and how to best take care of myself.

Thank you and keep safe,
Denise Paulson

Now that she knows "the truth" about what Howard has been up to, I'm not sure that she will be answering any more emails, but as long as the ad is up, it's worth a shot. 

Danny has posted all of the emails on an Imgur album. Here is a full transcript of the conversation between the two:

SUBJECT: National Silver Co Silverware w/Case

V37 (March 5th at 9:11AM)

Howard built Megan an underground shelter in the empty lot behind her grandmothers. Just wanted you to know. I think you should try to get there as something is coming....

Denise (March 5th at 3:16PM) 
How do you know about Megan's grandmother? Who are you and why are you telling me this?

V37 (March 5th at 3:50PM) 
I stumbled upon website that Howard set up as a way to get in touch with Megan, www.funandprettythings.com/chat . That is how I found out about your family including your daughter and her grandmother. Look at the site.
Howard left details about the bunker he made for Megan here - www.funandprettythings.com/lifepreservinginformation
At first I thought he was crazy, but he left a lot of convincing evidence that something bad is about to happen. I think it would be in your best to follow his advice. Maybe even to reply to the chat as if you were Megan and see what he tells you. Don't tell him about me and don't reveal who you are.

Denise (March 5th at 7:06PM) 
You're right, this does sound strange. Is this one of those fishing scams they warn you about on the internet? I don't want to click on some weird links and get hacked. My family's been through enough already with someone who has manipulated me to no end.
Although what you say does sound an awful lot like Howard. I want to believe that you're trying to be helpful, but how can I trust you? Do you have anything to prove what you're saying is true?

V37 (March 5th at 8:17PM) 
I completely understand your concern and suspicion. The best proof I can give you that this is no scam would be in Howards own word referring to the shelter he had built near you for Megan - "DO YOU REMEMEBER YOUR GRANDMA’S OLD HOUSE NEAR THE HIGHWAY? IT’S IN THE EMPTY LOT RIGHT BEHIND THERE." It would be prudent of you to go check it out and see that the rest of what I say is true.
Further evidence:
- According to Howard Megan's favorite ice cream is / was MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP.
- Howard built you all a little bomb shelter because of the Y2K scare and you complained about it.
- Howard worked with "VERY SECRET AND HIGHLY CLASSIFIED SPY SATELLITES" including a "MISSION CALLED SEASAT."
- The Silver flatware set you are selling was a gift to Howard's father "FROM WHEN HE WAS STATIONED IN ENGLAND AFTER THE WAR." He gave it to Howard when you both were married and it was meant to go to Megan.
Please check out the shelter, see that I am for real and that something is up. Contact Howard using the chat on the www.funandprettythings.com website if you have more questions, though you will need to know what Howard got Megan as a secret gift on her 13th birthday. I haven't been able to figure that out yet. I have only been trying because I have questions of my own. Maybe we can work together to get to the bottom of this and see if there really is anything that we should all be worried about.
Please let me know if you require any more proof or if you have any other questions. Be safe and get back to me soon, I fear our time to figure this out is quickly running out.
One more piece of proof, a link to a voicemail from Howard to Megan that was recovered from a phone Howard had left for Megan to find - http://vocaroo.com/i/s1f7XQl5Uqeo
I can give you the full details of how I ended up with it if you want but I can assure you Megan never heard it. Is Megan alright?

Denise (March 5 at 11:35PM) 
Omg God that's really his voice. I have to think.

V37 (March 6 at 3:54AM) 
Take your time, I'm truly sorry to be the one to reveal this to you. When you are ready, let me know how you would like to proceed and whether or not you would be willing to answer a few questions that I have; Is Megan ok? What happened to Howard that led to his becoming so unhinged? Do you know the secret gift Howard got for Megan? (If not there may be a clue in her journal)

Denise (March 6 at 12:26PM) 
I've been up most of the night, thinking about what you told me.
This is not the first time Howard has convinced others to do his dirty work of harassing my family. And many of these people filling up my email seem to have caught some of his mania. They keep badgering me with personal and private questions about his crazy conspiracies, without stopping to consider how painful this whole thing is for me, how terrifying it is just to hear his name.
You seem like you're different. Like you care about the truth, and about keeping people safe from him.
So I've decided to trust you. Please don't make me regret it by trying to play Howard's games with me.
I think I'm ready to see more. Where is this website you are talking about?
Denise

V37 (March 6 at 1:22PM) 
Thank you for sharing your name, I should have given mine to you sooner to show you could trust me but I see that you have divined it from my email address. I had been going with an alias to protect myself but I am glad that we are past that.
I am sorry to hear that you are receiving harassing emails, I have no idea who could be sending them or why. I do care about the truth and am deeply concerned that something is about to happen that no one is prepared for.
No games. If things are really as bad as Howard has made them seem than the last thing we have time for right now is to play games.
Here are links to Howard's websites:
1 - http://funandprettythings.com/
Click on the image from Pretty in Pink and type "Do you want to talk?" as the passphrase. Howard goes by the name RADIOMAN70 here and refers to Megan as RADIOGIRL. At the bottom of the page is a Chat box. When you click on it it will ask "Is this Megan?" Clicking "YES" prompts the security question "What was the secret gift I gave you on your 13th birthday?" As I mentioned earlier I was never able to figure this out and I assumed you wouldn't know otherwise it wouldn't be a secret. When I saw Megan's journal in the Craigslist photo that you posted it gave me hope as that might be a great place to look for it. I am not sure what can be accomplished by talking to Howard but maybe we could get some answers as to what has him so scared. I understand that you would be reluctant to communicate with him as it seems that he has left some serious scars in your life. If you are able to uncover what the secret gift was, and feel comfortable sharing that information with me, I would be willing to open up communications with him under the guise of Megan and keep you in the loop each step of the way. I can even just ask the questions you pose, acting as a sort of intermediary.
2 - http://funandprettythings.com/lifepreservinginformation/
This is a sub-site within funandprettythings that Howard set up to help prepare Megan for whatever it is that is about to happen.
Thank you again for reaching back out to me, please let me know as soon as you are able what you would like me to do next.
PS - This is not really connected to anything but it seems that Howard uses the image of the Eiffel Tower a lot. Does that mean anything to you? Probably not important but it has been bugging me.

Denise (March 6 at 3:41PM) 
Hold on, slow down a bit please. I'm not really a computer person. I've gone to the website, but I don't understand what to do next.

V37 (March 6 at 3:58PM) 
No problem! Sorry about dumping so much info. If you are on http://funandprettythings.com/ you will notice only one of the images will react if clicked on. Counting from left to right it should be the 6th image. It is a scene from Pretty in Pink of Molly Ringwald's character sitting at a computer. Once you click on that picture enter the pass phrase - Do you want to talk? (including the question mark). Once you do that you will be able to catch up on everything that Howard has been trying to tell Megan. Let me know when you have gone through it and if you need more direction.

Denise (March 6 at 5:12PM) 
Thank you for letting me know Danny. I found the right photo and typed in what you told me. And I found a message from Howard about the silverware. I can't believe he's still trying to blame me for doing something to hurt him. It made me so mad that I had to stop reading. I took a walk around the block to try to calm down.
Is this how you found me through Craigslist? Is there more than just this one message?

V37 (March 6 at 6:10PM) 
Ok, I have signal back. Once again let me emphasize how sorry I am to be bringing up old wounds. I would never have reached out to you if things didn't seem so potentially dire. After what happened in New York in 2008 I have learned to pay more attention to what is going on.
It was his referencing your selling the silverware that led to me finding you. I knew it was a risk to reach out the way I did but it looks to have paid off.
What you are seeing is only his most recent message. I should have said to make sure you scroll all the way to the top to get all the messages to your daughter.
Brace yourself as he says many potentially hurtful things concerning you keeping Megan and him apart. Once you have had a chance to look at it all please contact me again.

Denise (March 7 at 7:17AM) 
I was up all night reading and re-reading everything he wrote. All of it--the ranting and the raving about how evil I am, the page where he shows off how to steal a car. The constant questions to Megan, as if she would or could reply. The simulation "game." I'm very familiar with the kids of games Howard likes to play. He used to wake us up in the middle of the night to do emergency preparedness drills.
Howard was always worried about emergencies. I used to think it was just how he'd learned to see the world from when he was in the Navy. But things got so much worse when he started working at Bold Futura. He used to come home at night and sit through dinner without saying a word. He became obsessed with building his fallout shelter, putting all our money into it. I didn't even think he'd mind too much when we left. That way he could keep building his bunker without anybody to get in his way. But reading everything you've shown me on this site. I can see that it's just made him more obsessed.
This is not the first time he's done this. Every few years there's some new danger that's going to kill us all. But the disaster never happens. And then he just finds something else to obsess about. During one of his panics, he made us hide in the cellar. Megan must have been about 11, and she wouldn't stop asking him why we were hiding. So he put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and kept it there so long that she couldn't breathe. That was the moment I knew that I needed to get us away from him. Maybe if I'd realized it sooner, things wouldn't have turned out so badly.
Danny, thank you so much for showing me this. Please don't take this the wrong way, but don't contact me again. I have to figure out what I"m going to do about this, and how to best take care of myself.
Thank you and keep safe,
Denise Paulson