Updated: Sun., Jan. 9, 2011, 6:52 AM
Man uses dead Army hero's photo to woo women online
By ANNIE KARNI
Last Updated: 6:52 AM, January 9, 2011
Posted: 2:05 AM, January 9, 2011
A Facebook fraud is accused of using pictures of a dead war hero to seduce women he meets online.
The real soldier's comrades and women who experienced the ruse say the Internet lothario, who claims to be fictional New Yorker "Dylan Sorvino," hijacked the memorial photos of Sgt. Roberto Sanchez, a strikingly handsome 24-year- old US Army Ranger killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2009 after five tours of duty.
Sorvino posted the tragic photos of the square-jawed Special Forces soldier as his profile pictures on Facebook and then passed himself off to women he e-mailed as an all-American hero who grew up in the Big Apple, studied law and then enlisted in the Army to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Sanchez's heartbroken family was alerted to the scam days ago by a woman who stumbled upon photos of Sanchez on a military Web site and recognized him from Sorvino's Facebook page.
"This guy went on the Ranger battalion Web site looking for a fallen soldier to use," said Sanchez's mother, Wendy Holland.
"My son died for this country. How can anyone do that? It's so heartless."
Sanchez, 24, a Florida native, was killed on Oct. 1, 2009, when an improvised explosive device detonated as his unit drove over a bridge. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.
Sorvino -- who deleted his Facebook profile immediately after Sanchez's furious comrades confronted him online Thursday -- would play poker through Facebook and invite female players to be his "friends." He then wooed them into cyber-affairs with fabricated tales of glory, victims said.
After months of romancing, he would write of his impending departure from the war zone -- and make plans to meet them upon his return. He would never show.
"Tomorrow night is my crew's last Iraqi patrol and we start packing up," Sorvino wrote in an Oct. 11 e-mail to Carolyn Hinz, 37, a Minnesota divorcee. "I've been warned by command not to discuss my departure due to national security so we have to keep this talk to a minimum.
"I certainly wasn't prepared for you, you're [sic] gorgeous smile, your wit and you're [sic] ability to make me miss someone I've never met. How ironic, I had to travel 8,000 miles, go to war to meet this girl."
Hinz fell hard.
"I was a sucker for a cute face," she said. "It was a very cute face. Too bad it was someone else's face."
"He had all these plans of getting dinner, going to the movies, going dancing," she remembered. "I was really excited. The guy was good -- he blew my mind."
Jill Mischung, 51, also fell for Sorvino's charm offensive.
"He told me he was a soldier," said the Michigan woman. "He said he was overseas. The girls were drooling all over him."
Impersonating a fallen hero isn't just repugnant -- it may be illegal. Misusing a photograph that shows Sanchez's combat infantryman badge and basic parachutist wings may violate the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which makes it illegal to falsely claim military awards or wear military decorations.
Some of Sanchez's fellow Rangers have contacted Facebook, as well as the FBI.
The FBI is unlikely to launch an investigation if no financial losses resulted from the fraud, a spokesman told The Post.
According to Sanchez's mother, Sorvino also used her son's photos for profiles he posted on Myspace under the name Kyle Anderson, and on Bebo.com under the username "Slyfoxrngrd."
Sorvino removed those pictures yesterday.
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NY POST: Man Uses Dead Army Hero's Photo
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