Shraman Mitra
When Esther Pilgrim met Tim Blair on an online dating site, she believed him to be the man of her dreams. Besides, Esther grew more excited when she learned that the person she was talking to was none other than rap artist Tim Dog. However, fate had other plans, and soon Esther found herself sucked up into a financial hellhole that seemingly cleaned out her savings. ‘Dateline: The Perfect Catch’ follows Esther’s story and chronicles how she and a few others teamed up to bring Tim down. Let’s delve into the details surrounding the incident and find out more, shall we?
Who Is Esther Pilgrim?
Esther Pilgrim had a seemingly challenging childhood as she entered the foster system before turning two. Unfortunately, her time in the system left quite a few scars on her mind since she went in and out of foster care before finally moving out on her own at the age of 15. With no family or friends around her, Esther could not depend on anyone for emotional or financial support as she worked to build a future. However, her sheer willpower eventually prevailed as she pursued an Associate of Science Degree in Nursing from the Northwest Mississippi Community College before studying Practical Nursing at the Madisonville School of Nursing.
In the initial years of her professional career, Esther served as a combat medic in the United States Army. Moreover, she even became a mother to two wonderful children, and it seemed like life was finally going to reward her hard work. Yet, fate had other plans, as she soon had to endure a tough divorce, which left her devastated. Still, by 2007, she was a self-sufficient single mother who held a steady job as a registered nurse in a maternity ward.
It was around this time that Esther met Tim Blair for the first time through an online dating site. Initially, Tim seemed interested in meeting her, and she even flew out to Atlanta, where she spent an incredible weekend with the rapper. However, with time, Tim told her that he wanted to return to his music career and might need her help to do so. Although Esther was initially confused about Tim’s request, he explained that she would have to invest a total of $25,000 in a box set of his classic hits. However, he promised that once the collection was released, Esther would get her money back along with a hefty profit on the investment. Since Esther’s son was about to go to college at that time, she decided to take the risk and allowed the rapper to make credit cards in her name. Moreover, she even used her spotless credit record to send him $10,000, hoping to get rich when the profits rolled in.
However, months passed since the incident, and while there was no sign of Esther’s profits, Tim began demanding the remaining $15,000 she had promised to invest. This made Esther pretty suspicious, and she called up the record company to confirm if they were indeed burning a box set of Tim’s classic hits. However, even though the record company confirmed the deal, Tim claimed they had refused to work with him since then as they grew suspicious of the unknown woman who had called them for information. In the meantime, Esther discovered that Tim was maxing out the credit cards in her name with unnecessary transactions, such as meals at expensive restaurants and thousands of dollars worth of musical gear. This completely demolished her perfect credit record, and although Esther tried her best to repay the dues, her savings got completely cleaned out in the process.
Determined to get back at Tim for the scam, Esther reached out to Noelle Stelling, who had been the victim of an unrelated online scam in 2007. These women began investigating Tim’s actions and were soon led to Danielle Selhorst of The Netherlands and Whitney Trust of Ohio, both of whom had witnessed and been victims of Tim’s scams first-hand. Additionally, there were numerous others who the rapper had scammed, and Noelle knew that law enforcement officials wouldn’t do much about it. Hence, she put up a bait profile for Tim and even wore a wire when meeting him in person. The evidence she collected was enough for a court case, as Tim pleaded guilty to a charge of grand larceny in 2010. As a result, he was sentenced to 5 years of unsupervised probation and asked to pay Esther $19,000 in $100 monthly installments.
Where Is Esther Pilgrim Now?
Esther sought to rebuild her life after she was destroyed financially, but the scars from that incident are still fresh in her mind. Nevertheless, she has since advocated for fraud victims and foster children through her organization, Fostering SuperStars, which she co-established in 2007. Furthermore, she founded Dare The Dream, LLC in 2013 to raise awareness about foster children and was also a part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from July 2020 to January 2021.
At present, Esther resides in Centralia, Missouri, where she continues advocating for fraud victims and children in the foster system through Fostering SuperStars. Moreover, she uses her experience to work as an inspirational speaker and authored the book ‘Authorized User’ which details how she was financially destroyed by Tim Blair. On top of it, she is also the Director of Nursing at Colombia Manor Care Center, and we wish her the best for the years to come.
Read More: Tim Dog: Where Is The Scammer Now?
