Many were devastated to read about the death of baseball trailblazer Oz Sailors at 31 – only to learn nine days later that she was still alive.
The San Francisco Chronicle published an obituary for pitcher and varsity coach Ghazaleh ‘Oz’ Sailors after the nonprofit Baseball for All announced on June 28 that she had died of a ‘brain illness.’
The nonprofit said she had died surrounded by family and shared a GoFundMe account to collect funds for funeral costs.
But the SF Chronicle then learned that Sailors was very much alive and living in Easton, Maine, after several people got in touch and said they had seen her after her alleged death date.
On Wednesday, following news of her death, the Aroostook County sheriff’s office did a welfare check on Sailors at her family’s request.
The San Francisco Chronicle published an obituary for pitcher and varsity coach Ghazaleh ‘Oz’ Sailors after the nonprofit Baseball for All announced on June 28 that she had died of a ‘brain illness’
Sailors’ brother Hajir and a friend then received an email from an email address with the name ‘Baseball Kid.’
The email, signed ‘Oz,’ read: ‘Please publish I’m alive and they announced my death early and please make me the biggest fraud case of all time.
‘All I wanted was for you guys to leave me alone and you can’t even do that.’
Sailors is known as a trailblazer in baseball and was at one point believed to be the only female varsity baseball head coach in the country.
At times she was also the only woman playing in men’s leagues.
She made USA Baseball’s women’s national team at age 17 before going to Maine-Presque Isle for college.
Her pro career included leagues in Canada, Australia, Japan and Korea.
Sailors has reportedly been telling people for a over a year that she has a ‘brain stem degeneration.’
Sailors has reportedly been telling people for a over a year that she has a ‘brain stem degeneration’
Sailors made USA Baseball’s women’s national team at age 17 before going to Maine-Presque Isle for college
Commander Forrest Dudley with the sheriff’s office said he spoke with Sailors face-to-face.
When asked by the SF Chronicle why Baseball for All posted that Sailors had died, Dudley said: ‘I’m not going to get into that. We did have a conversation about that. Her indication is she just wants to be left alone.’
Sailors shared an Instagram post from a baseball field on May 6 that read in part: ‘Thankful to have said goodbye to baseball on the field that means the most to me. Thankful to have been surrounded by family and friends … Thankful to have finished this fight an Owl. Thank you Jesus for it all.’
That post came six weeks after Sailor’s brother and mother received a text from a man that Sailor previously claimed was her husband telling them she had died from breast cancer.
Shortly after they received the text, Oz called her mom and said she was safe before quickly hanging up.
Then, on June 5, a GoFundMe created by a woman named Kristan Hammonds asked for ‘Support for Oz Sailors’
Sailors has been estranged from her family for years, and in 2014 accused her parents of unspecified abuse when she was a senior in high school. Her family denied the claims.
‘I think she’s had a mental breakdown,’ her mother told the SF Chronicle.
Sailors had also reportedly been asking her friends for money over the last months.
Then, on June 5, a GoFundMe created by a woman named Kristan Hammonds asked for ‘Support for Oz Sailors.’
The description read: ‘My friend, Oz Sailors, was thrown a life-sized curveball and her loved ones need our support!’
Sailors had also reportedly been asking her friends for money over the last months
Sailors is known as a trailblazer in baseball and was at one point believed to be the only female varsity baseball head coach in the country. At times she was also the only woman playing in men’s leagues
Then another sentence was added: ‘This GoFundMe is to help pay for funeral expenses.’
That fund has raised $3,145 and is no longer accepting donations.
When asked about the GoFundMe, commander Dudley said: ‘If somebody was to file a complaint, it’s something we’d look at.
‘Right now, there’s no complaint.’
