Did college student Melanie Goodhue get arrested after getting pregnant by a cadaver? No, that's not true: The claim appeared on a satire website, and the story and name of the student are completely made up. The article did use a real photograph -- of Sarah Furay, a college student whose smiling mugshot went viral. She was dubbed the "Adorable Drug Kingpin" after she was arrested on drug charges in 2015.
The story originated as an article by Daily News Reported on January 22, 2022, titled "College Student Arrested After Getting Pregnant By A Cadaver" (archived here). It opened:
Melanie Goodhue (20) of Fresno California was attending UCSB (the University of California Santa Barbara) when she was arrested for desecration of a corpse and improper sexual contact on school property. Melanie was thinking about a career in the medical field as a nurse or doctor, so she had signed up for an anatomy class...
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
College Student Arrested After Getting Pregnant By A Cadaver
Melanie Goodhue (20) of Fresno California was attending UCSB (the University of California Santa Barbara) when she was arrested for desecration of a corpse and improper sexual contact on school property. Melanie was thinking about a career in the medical field as a nurse or doctor, so she had signed up for an anatomy class...
The header on the website is clearly labeled, "NOT QUITE DAILY. NOT QUITE NEWS."
Other "Recent Posts" on the website include stories with the headline, "Wife Sues Husband For Making Popcorn In Her Vagina While She Slept," and "Shark Bites Off Florida Mans Penis After Failed Blowjob Attempt."
The About Us section of the website clearly states that it is a joke site:
Daily News Reported is a fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website. Daily News Reported uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.
Daily News Reported is not intended for people under 18 years of age.
The image in the fake story is the real mugshot for Furay, who was a 19-year-old student at Blinn College in College Station, Texas, when she was arrested on drug charges and her mugshot went viral in 2015.
She was called the "Adorable Drug Kingpin" in media stories about her arrest. Furay was not arrested for desecration of a corpse. She was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2020.
