Fundraiser For Dog's Owner, Man Who Drove Into Icy Toms River Halted

A fundraising account set up purportedly to pay for the retrieval of the body of Rolo, the dog who died when his owner’s pickup truck broke through ice and submerged on the Toms River on Sunday, has been shut down.

The GoFundMe fundraiser, “help get rolo out of the bay,” was set up by Christina Perrone, a friend of Andrew Mayer, on Tuesday. Initially its stated purpose was to help pay for the retrieval of Rolo, as well as the pickup truck belonging to Mayer, which currently sits in the river off Pine Beach, where it sank Sunday morning. Later Perrone changed the information to focus solely on retrieving Rolo’s body.

But after two people donated at total of $2,200 toward the $3,000 goal, the fundraiser was stopped. A notice that appears when you click on the “Donate Now” button advises, “The organizer has stopped donations.”

The fundraiser infuriated animal lovers and animal rights activists, who have been clamoring for harsh penalties for Mayer in the incident. Several people, posting on several Facebook sites that are following the case, including the Toms River Patch Facebook page, said they had reported the page as a fraud to GoFundMe.

GoFundMe, contacted by email, responded through Kelsea, a Customer Happiness representative, who said the company investigates every fraud report it receives, and each is handled on a case-by-case basis.

“Generally speaking, in the rare event that we do find fraudulent activity on an account, we have the power to remove the account, refund donors, and ban the user from ever signing up again,” she said, adding she could not discuss specific investigations due to privacy concerns. Kelsea also could not say how many times the company has shut down accounts for fraud.

“I can tell you that because crowdfunding creates such a robust paper trail of account holder activity, fraud on GoFundMe isn’t just rare, it’s nearly nonexistent,” Kelsea said.

Meanwhile, state police confirmed that any removal of the pickup truck will be arranged by and coordinated by them.

Capt. Stephen Jones said the removal will be handled by a private vendor, more than likely a boat towing company, and overseen by the state police. There’s only a few companies that handle this type of removal from a marine environment, Jones said. The insurance company that insured the pickup will likely be billed for the costs, he said.

The pickup truck is sitting in about 6 feet of water about 100 yards from shore, where it broke through the ice on Sunday. A 10-hour search-and-rescue effort ensued after Toms River police saw the truck’s lights disappear while it was on the ice. Mayer, who had been doing donuts in the truck, managed to escape the sinking truck but told investigators that he was unable to find Rolo, whose death in the icy water has sparked a massive outcry on social media.

Friends and family of Mayer have defended him, saying he tried to rescue the dog but the frightened dog would not leave the truck.

Related stories:

• Dog Owner’s Friend Asks For Money To Retrieve Pickup, Pet’s Body From Icy Toms River
• Toms River Man Charged In Pickup Falling Through Ice, Killing Dog
• Seaside Heights Cop Rips ‘Animal Loving Freaks’ Angry Over Dog’s Death In Icy Toms River
• Cousin: Toms River Pickup Truck Driver Who Fell Through Ice Tried To Rescue Dog
• Poll: Should Toms River Truck Driver Who Fell Through Ice, Killing Dog, Be Criminally Charged?
• UPDATE: Two Men Identified After Pickup Truck Falls Through Toms River Ice; Dog Dies
• Cops: Man Won’t Be Charged In Pickup Truck Sinking In Toms River, Killing Dog