Fallen hero's photo stolen, used for fake Facebook page

BOURNE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Staff Sergeant Matthew Pucino was killed in combat in 2009, and recently someone stole his photo and used it on a fake Facebook account and dating website profile.

Pucino, 34, was inspired to join the military after 9/11. After three tours of duty in Iraq, the green beret from the Cape was killed while on combat patrol in Afghanistan on Nov. 23, 2009.

To keep his memory alive, his family started the Matthew A. Pucino Memorial Foundation. Every year they hold a motorcycle ride on the Cape in his memory.

His family members are still coping with the loss, and were shocked to discover that someone stole his picture and used it to create a fake Facebook page, claiming to live in Dallas.

"I was about coming out of my skin. I don't even know how to describe it, I mean the anger it was hard to sleep that night I was so furious that someone would disrespect his name and pose as Matthew, he's a fallen hero," Pucino's sister Lisa Haglof said.

The person also used Pucino's photos to create a fake profile on a dating website. They used a picture of Pucino with his two sisters, stolen right off the memorial foundation site.

His family doesn't know why someone would steal his photos, or what they are gaining by doing so, but they do know they want the photos taken down. The family asked Facebook to take the page down, but as of Wednesday, it was still up. Facebook told FOX 25 that they have to go through a "process," and they expected the page to be pulled by Thursday. By late Thursday morning, it appeared the page was removed.

Pucino's sister expressed her frustration over the amount of time it took for Facebook to remove the page. During an interview Wednesday, she said it was "disgraceful" because "if they wanted something down they could pull it down immediately."

The deceased soldier's sisters want to be sure that every military family is aware of this situation, and hope that may prevent something like this from happening in the future.

"He died for this country; he died for everyone in it. Let him rest in peace," Haglof said.

Cox Media Group