Woman went on one date with a guy from a dating app. He knew her dead dog’s name, then he showed up at her mom’s funeral

A woman named Jade says a man she met once through mutual friends and later matched with on a dating app ended up knowing private details about her life that she never shared with him. She said the situation lasted for years and included him showing up at places she had not told him about.

Jade shared her story in an email to TikTok creator Ashlee, who posted it on her account @ashleeinc to her 2.1 million followers. According to the video, Jade first met a man named Preston when she was 17 years old, after some older friends set them up in a group setting.

Jade said the meeting did not lead to anything since Preston came across as nerdy and socially awkward and did not share much about himself. She said she did not add him on social media afterward and did not think about him again.

The two matched on a dating app a year after their first meeting

About a year later, Jade said she joined a dating app and matched with a man whose profile picture looked familiar. She said she did not realize it was Preston until they met in person for their date at a local restaurant. Both said they had not recognized each other’s profile pictures.

During the date, Jade said the conversation felt one-sided and that Preston did not ask her much about herself. At the end of the date, she declined his offer to drive her home and said she would take an Uber instead. Other women have shared similar accounts of red flags appearing right after one date. 

Before she left, Preston asked her, “Have you ever thought about getting another dog since Smokey passed?” She said Smokey was her childhood dog, who had died when she was 13. Jade said she never told Preston about the dog. She assumed he had found the information through her social media accounts.

After the date, Jade said Preston kept messaging her on the dating app. She said that whenever she stopped responding, he brought up specific details, including a show she was watching, a book she was reading, and her favorite band. She eventually removed him from her matches, but she said he then began messaging her on a photo-sharing platform through new accounts each time she blocked him.

Jade said Preston later began creating fake profiles pretending to be people she knew in real life, including former classmates and coworkers, in an apparent attempt to get her to accept friend requests. She said this happened with several different people before she stopped accepting new requests altogether.

About a year later, Jade said she was working at a restaurant and had taken the day off to celebrate her birthday with family. While at dinner, she said she received a message from a new account asking how her pasta was. Another message followed telling her to mention her birthday to the waitress for a free dessert. Jade said she had not posted about her birthday or her location online.

After going to the bathroom to calm down, Jade said she saw Preston standing near the men’s restroom. She said she called her sister into the bathroom, and when they came out, he was gone. Jade said she still went out with friends later that night for a bonfire on private property. During the gathering, she said she received another message from an account with no profile photo asking why she was sitting close to a male friend.

Jade said she told her friends everything at that point, and they offered to go with her to the police, but she was hesitant, believing officers might see the situation as something that could be explained by him following her friends’ social media.

About a week later, while Jade was babysitting her 3-year-old nephew, Jade said Preston appeared at the door holding a Subway sandwich and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He reportedly told her, “We can have a little date after you put the baby to bed.” 

Jade said she shut the door and called the police, who arrived after he had already left. She showed officers the messages and said they advised her to keep her distance. The messages stopped for about a year afterward. Apparently, noticing a stranger watching them in public before realizing they were being followed is not something new.

Jade said she later moved out of her mother’s house and said she felt safer since Preston would not know her new address. She said her mother also moved out of the home. Not long after, she said Jade’s mother passed away, and the family held a memorial service at a church.

Toward the end of the service, Jade said she noticed Preston getting up from a chair in the back of the church and walking out. She said he had not messaged her or given any indication that he planned to attend. Jade said she has not heard from him since, but said she does not know whether he stopped watching her or simply stopped letting her know he was there.

In the video, Ashlee said Jade wanted to share her story as a warning about being careful with what people post online and who they let learn personal details about their lives.

Several viewers reacted to the detail that police told Jade to keep her distance from Preston. One commenter wrote, “Potentially I misunderstood BUT did I hear the police told HER to keep her distance? Like, dude, she’s trying. F–k. Victim blaming.”

Other commenters raised concerns about whether Preston may have been tracking Jade through her devices. One wrote, “It almost sounds like he’s tracking her. Maybe he put a device on her phone, her car? That’s really scary. Maybe have your apartment debugged or something? Stay safe.”

Another commenter described the behavior in the story as alarming, writing, “People with obsessive behaviour like this are probably one of the most twisted dangerous type of people. Hopefully she dodged a bullet.”