Read this story by Andrew Meacham and S.I. Rosenbaum: You'll get no more surprise parties, John Smith wrote.
No more Disney World trips. No more Daytona 500 tickets or television interviews.
He was through.
"You & Tippie let me down, broke my heart and shattered my trust, " he wrote in a March e-mail to Tania and Edward Tippie. "This was a one-time shot, and you both blew it."
When Smith met the Tippies in October 2006, they were at rock bottom.
Edward Tippie, a truck driver from Hillsborough County, had lost his job after a traumatic crash. Tania Tippie had been convicted of welfare fraud. Struggling with debt and medical bills, the family split up to save money.
Smith…
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