Acid Victim Bethany Storro's Ex-Mom-in-Law Denies She Could Have Faked Attack

Sept. 13, 2010 — -- The former mother-in-law of the woman who claims she was the victim of an acid attack rejected reports that Bethany Storro threw acid in her own face.

Reports in several news outlets suggested that Bethany Storro may had made up the attack. The speculation took on increased prominence after the 28-year-old canceled a scheduled appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Storro was slated to be on "Oprah" Thursday.

Storro's former in-law Pamela Storro came to her defense today, calling the allegations that the attack was fabricated "insane."

"There is no way ever that she would do anything like this," said Pamela Storro. She said the suggestion that Bethany Storro could have thrown the acid in her own face is "as hideous as the crime itself."

On a post on her Facebook page on Friday, which has since been removed, Storro wrote that while she had originally wanted to appear on the show to "inspire people and tell them about Jesus," she changed her mind.

"The show was going to possibly turn into another direction, so my family and I decided not to go on," she wrote. "I hope you understand and will still check in on me."

A spokeswoman for Winfrey's show confirmed to ABCNews.com that Storro had canceled her appearance during which she was expected to speak about "her account of being attacked and scarred with acid." No reason for the cancelation was given by the show.

The Vancouver Police Department has been looking into Storro's acid attack for nearly two weeks. No arrests have been made so far.

Storro's decision to pull out of the Oprah interview came just a day after several media reports suggesting that the acid attack that garnered her national media attention might have been intentional.

The Columbian newspaper reported on the speculation that there might be more to Storro's story, saying that one of their own commenter's claimed that Storro has claimed she'd been the victim of a "similar, earlier attack by another woman in another state."

The police department in Priest River, Idaho, where Storro lived until last year, told ABCNews.com that no crime had ever been reported by Storro.

Acid Victim Is Partially Deaf

And a Vancouver Voice reporter wrote about visiting the park where Storro was attacked and spoke to witnesses – homeless people who identified themselves only by their street names – who told him that Storro was "clearly alone when she dropped to the ground screaming."

The Vancouver Police Department declined to comment on any of the rumors, saying only that the investigation is ongoing.

Pamela Storro remains convinced that her former daughter-in-law is not one to make up such a "tragic incident."

"She's not one to want attention," she said. "She's a lovely young woman and it's tragic what has happened."

Pamela Storro said that her son Travis met Storro at church in Priest River and had married shortly after. Six years later the couple divorced, a split that Pamela Storro said was amicable and was simply the product of marrying too young. The couple did not have any children.

She and Travis were still close, and he had visited her in the hospital as recently as last week, said Pamela Storro.

Despite being left partially deaf after contracting meningitides when she was 2, Storro – whose friends refer to as "Beese" – was "playful and funny," said Pamela Storro.

"It's insane to say anyone would ever make such an accusation," she said. "It's such a complete stretch of anyone's imagination."

Storro, with her entire face bandaged, spoke about the attack just hours after undergoing surgery for her acid-splattered face.

"Once [the acid] hit me I could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling my skin," she said. "It was the most painful thing."

"A woman approached her and said, 'Hey pretty girl,' and she turned around and she asked if she wanted something to drink, and my daughter said, 'No,'" Storro's mother, Nancy Neuwelt told reporters.

Storro and her doctors have credited a pair of sunglasses that she purchased just moments before the attack for preventing blindness.