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The Department of Defense said that Gabe Maldano, who rumors claimed had died in the line of duty, is alive and well and is serving in Iraq.
The call starting the rumors came into the Glenbrook volunteer fire department around 6 a.m.Thursday.
A distraught woman said "Gabe was killed in Iraq last weekend".
According to Chief Frank Passero, the llieutenant who took the call assumed the woman was talking about Gabe Costello, a former volunteer firefighter. He also assumed it was Gabe's mother on the line.
But the Chief said Costello never joined the army, which explains why the Department of Defense has no record of him.
Chief Passero told NBC 30 News the DOD asked him not to, but he did confirm the wrong name was a result of human error.
The chief got to thinking and remembered another Gabe from the department who had joined the military, which was Gabe Maldonado.
Shari Lawrence, the Department of Public Affairs Officer for Army Human Resources Command, said Maldonado is currently on active duty in Iraq serving as a specialist with a unit out of Ft. Stewart, Ga.
Maldonado was a volunteer firefighter with the Glenbrook Fire Dept in Stamford for a short period of time.
Lawrence said Maldonado was able to contact his family before they heard any rumors of his death, to let them know he was fine.
Lawrence says it is now is in the hands of the Glenbrook Volunteer Fire Dept to take any further action. The Chief said if the call turns out to a hoax, both he and the army will be determined to find out who made Thursday's disturbing phone call.
