When Gavin Hannan met Lexi Thomas in 2017, she told him she had spent years battling a rare and potentially deadly form of cancer.
Hannan said he changed his life to support her, taking part in races wearing a #LexiStrong shirt and helping raise money for her medical care.
The 36-year-old moved out of the couple’s Maryland home during the COVID-19 pandemic because he feared the virus could be fatal for Thomas, who was described as immunocompromised.
Hannan, a director of client relations at a recruiting company, also said he put his hopes of starting a family on hold because of fertility problems Thomas, 34, experienced during her alleged illness.
His life was upended in 2025 when, according to court filings seeking an annulment, he said he discovered that Thomas had never had cancer and had allegedly fabricated the illness.
Hannan accused her of carrying out an elaborate deception to portray herself as a cancer patient and obtain money from supporters.
Thomas began a blog in 2014 to chronicle what she described as her cancer battle, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for treatment from people in her Maryland community.
For more than a decade, her blog and social media accounts featured Bible verses, photographs that appeared to show her receiving treatment and images of her attending support groups with other cancer patients.
Alexandra ‘Lexi’ Thomas, 34, is accused by her husband, Gavin Hannan, 36, of fabricating a cancer diagnosis and obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars from supporters
Thomas started her blog in 2014 to share her alleged cancer journey and described herself as a ‘cancer celebrity’
She said she was being treated by a leading specialist at Duke University. Hannan alleged in his filing that she also took part in a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Thomas wrote about speaking at cancer conferences and attending galas around the country, drawing an outpouring of encouragement in the comments.
She received more than $200,000 through GoFundMe, fundraisers held by a local Red Robin restaurant and donations from residents of her hometown in Howard County, Maryland.
In a filing dated October 17, Hannan claimed that doctors Thomas identified as her medical providers allegedly had no record of treating her.
He further alleged that she took photographs belonging to genuine cancer patients, presented them as her own and falsely claimed to have attended cancer-related events.
According to Hannan’s complaint, Thomas told him when they met in December 2017 that she had previously been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. She allegedly said she was the only survivor of a clinical trial in which the other 22 participants had died.
The filing says Thomas claimed that, after recovering from that illness, she developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma because of the treatments used to cure the blood cancer. She also allegedly said she was enrolled in another NIH clinical trial.
Thomas claimed she had a rare blood cancer before developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma during treatment
Thomas publicly praised her supportive husband, pictured running in her honor, while claiming she was receiving care from leading doctors
Hannan said Thomas regularly left their home for several days to undergo treatments and biopsies at the NIH. He alleged that these absences occurred several times each month and typically lasted three or four days.
He claimed Thomas told him the clinical trial rules barred relatives from accompanying patients to treatments or procedures. As a result, he said his only contact with her care team was through text messages and email.
The filings do not explain what Thomas was doing during those absences if she was not receiving medical care.
The couple married in October 2019. Five months later, in March 2020, Hannan developed pericarditis, a heart condition, and was hospitalized as the COVID-19 pandemic began.
After he returned home, Thomas allegedly told him that her doctors believed his exposure to illnesses in the hospital made it unsafe for them to live together because of her heightened risk of infection.
They lived separately for nearly 18 months. At one point, Hannan alleged they went six months without speaking by phone or text because Thomas said complications from her treatment had caused swelling in her brain.
Hannan also claimed they did not share a bedroom during the marriage because Thomas was frequently ill from treatment, struggled to sleep and kept unusual hours for medical appointments.
According to Hannan, much of Thomas’s identity centered on her supposed experience as a cancer survivor and patient. She reportedly referred to herself as a ‘cancer celebrity.’
Thomas received hundreds of thousands of dollars through GoFundMe, a Red Robin fundraiser and direct contributions from people in her hometown
Hannan alleged in court that Thomas took photographs from genuine cancer patients, presented them as her own and falsely claimed to attend cancer events
Hannan said Thomas made her alleged status as a cancer patient and survivor central to her identity
Thomas also told Hannan that she had been hired to speak at conferences for cancer patients and survivors, with some engagements requiring travel, the filing states.
Hannan said he learned in August 2025 from an investigative reporter that Thomas had allegedly fabricated her cancer diagnosis.
“Over the course of the next several months [Hannan] learned that [Thomas] did not, and never did, have cancer,” the court document states.
“The doctors that [Thomas] claimed had saved her life, and treated her for years, have no record of her ever being a patient. The conferences where she claimed to be a speaker either do not exist or have no record of [Thomas]. The patient advocates that [Thomas] claimed to work with do not exist. The photos that [Thomas] posted on social media of her cancer journey were photos stolen from other patients on the internet and edited.”
The filing added: “[Hannan] also learned that through GoFundMe and other fundraisers, as well as direct contributions via Venmo, [Thomas] had fraudulently received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated funds for her alleged medical bills.”
The reporter who contacted Hannan, Nancy Moscatiello, and producer Scott Eldridge later launched The Lexi Con, a series on their podcast The Slippery examining their three-year investigation into the alleged scheme described in the complaint.
Moscatiello and Eldridge also produced Scamanda, an investigative podcast about convicted cancer scammer Amanda Riley. They told Our News Outlet that their investigation into Thomas includes thousands of pages of records, transcripts, interviews, photographs, blog entries and social media posts.
“The strings are going every which way you can imagine, because for 12 years, her full-time job has been misdirection,” Eldridge said.
The investigators alleged that Thomas altered photographs and created fake profiles and email addresses, including one allegedly linked to her doctor, to deceive friends and relatives
In addition to GoFundMe donations and a Red Robin fundraiser, Hannan alleged that Thomas received money directly from members of the community
The journalists said a nurse who knew Thomas’s story but had grown suspicious first alerted them to the case three years ago.
Eldridge said Thomas had actually been hospitalized in 2012 for hypereosinophilia, a treatable disorder.
He said she did receive treatment for that condition, but launched her blog two years later while claiming she had cancer.
As described in Hannan’s complaint, the podcasters said they contacted doctors Thomas identified as her providers, who allegedly told them they had no record of her as a patient.
Moscatiello and Eldridge also claimed that photographs Thomas posted showing her receiving treatment and attending support groups had been digitally altered, an allegation also made by Hannan in his complaint.
The podcasters said people Thomas claimed to have met or spoken with told them they had never encountered her.
“She was not as fragile as she was making herself out to be, but everybody treated her that way,” Eldridge said.
The podcasters said a GoFundMe campaign for Thomas raised $199,000, while the Red Robin fundraiser brought in more than $20,000.
Hannan also alleged in his complaint that Thomas received further donations directly from members of the community.
The Howard County Police Department is investigating the allegations but has not recommended charges to prosecutors.
The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office said it could neither confirm nor deny whether it was conducting a related investigation.
Our News Outlet contacted Thomas and her parents for comment. No attorney is listed for her in the annulment filings. Duke University and the NIH were also contacted for comment.
GoFundMe told The Baltimore Banner that it is investigating Thomas.
“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and the exploitation of the generosity of our donors,” spokesperson Madeline Purdue said.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment on the specifics of the case.”
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