And the topper was a special four-minute segment from Notre Dame University players in South Bend, Indiana, Rylee's dream school. In it, players took her on a virtual tour of campus, including a stop at the scaled-down replica of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where an Irish player lit a candle for Rylee, then shared a prayer from the chaplain.
The attention garnered stories and interviews on local radio and TV and a story in The Canton Repository. Texas A&M's softball team invited Rylee to fly out to College Station; she and her mom visited Sea World on the trip — another wish Lindsey had said was on her daughter's bucket list.
But some began questioning Lindsey's motives.
Several contacted The Repository, wondering if Rylee was as sick as Lindsey portrayed.
Their skepticism was based on some allegations that Jamie, Rylee's dad, later alluded to in his court filing seeking temporary custody. Accusations that Lindsey herself had once claimed to have a brain tumor and had even interviewed families to adopt Rylee after she died.
Lindsey did not respond to a request for comment for this story. However, in several prior interviews with The Repository during the past two months, Lindsey insisted it was former friends with ulterior motives who were merely trying to disparage her and Rylee.
When asked, Lindsey declined on multiple occasions to release her daughter's medical records for The Repository to review. She also was reluctant to allow physicians at Akron Children's Hospital — where she said Rylee had been treated — to speak to the newspaper.
"She has a whole team of doctors working on her," Lindsey said.
Lindsey said they'd run countless tests on Rylee, but were unable to determine the root of her illness. She said her daughter regularly suffered nighttime seizures, could barely eat, was on an ever-changing array of pain medications and was nearly always exhausted.
"That's sad people have to cause drama," she'd said. "Rylee sits in during her (doctor) appointments; she knows what's happening to her. So calling me a liar is calling her a liar."
None of it made sense to some of Lindsey's friends. They'd watched a seemingly healthy Rylee continue to play, eat and travel. They'd see Lindsey's social media posts of the girl climbing a mountain of steps to go sledding, while supposedly fighting for her life.
Is it a case of Munchausen syndrome?
Katie Marksell, a mom herself, is one of those friends.
"Maybe it was motherly instinct," she said of her epiphany.
She'd met Lindsey through softball two years ago. Rylee and her daughter became friends. Rylee, she said, visited so often she even had her own account on their Hulu and Netflix.
Marksell said soon after they'd met, Lindsey told her Rylee had lesions on her brain, then on her lungs. She also recalled Lindsey's tearful breakdown over the fact Rylee had been diagnosed with leukemia.
"She was always trying to have more tests run," Marksell said.
Marksell said her doubts grew, though she tried to support her friend. Maybe, she thought, this was just one of those rare cases where it takes years for doctors to finally get to the bottom of it.
"All my friends know I'm a researcher," Marksell said.
Then, she watched a mini-series, "The Act," on Hulu. It's based on the true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mom, Dee Dee. The Missouri woman for years pretended her daughter was seriously ill to garner sympathy and attention — a phenomena called factitious disorder imposed on another, but commonly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
The similarities to Rylee and Lindsey were striking, Marksell said.
"I think Lindsey is very sick and needs help," Marksell said, adding she needs to be held accountable for damage she's done. "She thrives on attention, but doesn't know how to get it."
Marksell said Rylee is a gem of a child.
"But she's endured way more than any child should have to ... such a good kid and I love her to death," she said.
Father: 'If she needed my heart, I'd give it to her today'
Lindsey had told The Repository and others that Rylee's dad, Jamie, had no interest in his daughter and was mostly absent after the couple divorced.
Jamie Abbuhl said that's an outright lie, like so many of Lindsey's stories. Although his ex-wife had custody of Rylee, Jamie said, he regularly visited his daughter and added he hoped for a larger role now.
"If she needed my heart, I'd give it to her today," he said.
Jamie said he'd grown increasingly concerned about his daughter in recent months. Not because of her health; rather it was the stories Lindsey was telling others about an imminent death for Rylee.
He said Lindsey even recently asked a friend to be a pallbearer at Rylee's funeral — a request supposedly made by Rylee.
"What kid even thinks about something like that?" Jamie said.
He said he believes the extent of Rylee's medical issues are limited to slow digestion and constipation.
"As far as her going to die ... no," he said.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or
tim.botos@cantonrep.com .
On Twitter: @tbotosREP
