Reports claiming the death of Christa Boyd-Nasftad Toribiong, also known as “Dudek,” the wife of former Palau President Johnson Toribiong, have been debunked, with Saipan law enforcement denying knowledge of such incident.
Last Tuesday, multiple Palauans received messages via Facebook Messenger from an account under Johnson Toribiong’s name, falsely announcing that Christa Toribiong had died by suicide in Saipan after crashing her vehicle. The messages included photos of a wrecked car, allegedly from the crash, and an image purportedly showing her at a morgue.
Moses Uludong, publisher of Tia Belau newspaper, shared screenshots of a conversation in which a person identifying himself as Robert Boyd, Christa’s alleged uncle, contacted him after failing to reach Johnson Toribiong. Boyd claimed Christa had died and that burial arrangements were underway.
In a lengthy exchange, Boyd insisted that Uludong convince the former president to call him. He further alleged that Christa’s sister had attempted to impersonate Christa in a phone call to Toribiong, but he had refused to answer. Boyd also claimed to have traveled to Saipan and threatened to bury Christa in an unmarked grave unless the former president contacted him.
Uludong reported on the claims in the Monday, March 10, edition of Tia Belau. After a screenshot of the article was posted on Facebook, Christa Toribiong herself commented, “Oh, that’s a shame. I wasn’t aware I died.”
After calls and inquiries into the reports of Christa Toribiong’s death, the messages on Messenger disappeared. However, Mr. Uludong had taken screenshots of the conversations and photos sent to him.
Multiple sources, including Saipan law enforcement, have confirmed that Christa Toribiong is alive and well.
Mr. Toribiong is currently in Palau and efforts to reach him for comments were unsuccessful as of press time.