The article was based on interviews with Ms. Fenton, caseworkers with the Salvation Army, employees of the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Queens, where Ms. Fenton lives, and Amanda McGee, who described herself as the fiancée of Ms. Fenton's oldest son. Ms. Fenton said that she lived at the hotel with her five children, and that her husband had come with her from Biloxi but was living elsewhere in New York.
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A reporter originally obtained Ms. Fenton's name from the Rev. Donald Hudson, a Queens pastor active in efforts to secure aid for Katrina evacuees in New York. Mr. Hudson had described her as an evacuee who might be willing to be profiled, after the reporter asked him for possible interview subjects. A reporter visited Ms. Fenton on two occasions, in late February and early March, and spent several hours with her, even watching her battle with FEMA officials on the phone.
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Mr. Hudson, whose church assisted Ms. Fenton after she arrived at the Ramada, said he was not aware of her previous record when he referred a reporter to her. "We deal with everybody as survivors," he said. "Our network doesn't do criminal investigations. If they're here, if they're registered with FEMA, if they've gone through case management, that's how we clear it."
