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Hi Walter! viral video internet hoaxer unmasked. It was a viral video which raised the hopes of a mother that her missing daughter could still be alive, eight years after she vanished. The clip, which came to be known as Hi Walter! It was so convincing that police mounted a lengthy investigation into whether the girl was Kayla Berg, last seen alive in 2. Antigo, Wisconsin. But they concluded the video was a hoax, and its perpetrators were a mystery.

Now Daily. Mail. com can reveal the hoax was perpetrated by two men and a woman from upstate New York, led by a single 3. Michael Maton. Confronted over his part in the hoax, Maton initially called it 'slander', but then admitted he was the man on screen – and blamed the 'media' for not understanding the 'fictional web horror' movie. Scroll down for video The hoax Hi Walter! Daily. Mail. com can now reveal that the man in the video is Michael Maton, a 3. Watch Turtles Can Fly Full Movie. Utica, Upstate New York. Daily. Mail. com confronted Michael Maton at his home at 1pm, the sci- fi fan initially called his association with the hoax 'slander', but then admitted he was the man on screen – and blamed the 'media' for not understanding the 'fictional web horror' movie. At his shabby house close to Utica (above), he emerged at 1pm apparently just having been woken up, and claimed the film was 'artistic'The reason the video went viral was that it had no indication to the viewer that it was fiction.

That meant that the more than one million people who viewed it had no way of knowing that Maton and the chained- up woman were both acting. She can be named as Lucy Cavo, 3.

Maton lives in Utica. The video was produced by Jason Derr, 3.

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Don Vantel', who also lives close to Utica. The video was posted in 2. Watch Attack Of The Killer Donuts Youtube. You. Tube but became a sensation last October after an Internet forum user suggested the bound girl looked like Berg.

Sadly, among those who were convinced the resemblance was strong enough to be investigated, was her mother, Hope Sprenger. She said the girl in the film resembled her daughter and she and Berg's brother were convinced it was her until police confirmed it was a played out scenario.'I thought it was Kayla. It looked like her and it was the worst feeling.

Just sick and disturbing. I didn't sleep for days,' she told Daily. Mail. com. Maton and his two friends could have made clear the film was fiction as soon as it became an Internet hit, but did not. The film featured the unidentified man - played by Michael Maton -  opening a door and showing a bound and partially naked woman who was widely said to resemble missing Kayla Berg. In fact she can now be identified as part- time actress Lucy Cavo, also of Utica, N. Y. The film ends with the man in the video, now known as Maton, walking into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.

The disturbing sequence was watched by hundreds of thousands of people and launched a police investigation The chained- up woman in the video is Lucy Cavo, 3. Maton lives in Utica. The video became a sensation in October 2. Kayla Berg (right) who went missing in 2. That meant that police spent days investigating it before concluding it was not Berg, and was an acted sequence, to the fresh devastation of Berg's mother. Sprenger said: 'I think there's something wrong in their heads. You can't make a video like this and think everything is going to be OK.'There is a major problem in the world with missing people, not just children, but missing people in general and doing something like this as a supposed scare tactic is disturbing.'She added: 'That your mind would even think that way.

It just not right. It is sick. It is disturbing, I don't understand it.'Asked what she would say if she met the film's team she said: 'I would probably have a few choice words. It would not be pretty.'Maton, a 'steam punk' and zombies fan, initially claimed it was 'slander' to suggest he had played the kidnapper. At his shabby house close to Utica, he emerged at 1pm apparently just having been woken up, and claimed the film was 'artistic' and that the film was meant to be part of 'a web series about the Zodiac killer.'The Zodiac Killer was a serial murderer who carried out a spree of murders in California during the late 1.

He later taunted police in a flurry of letters to local media in which he included four cryptograms and became known as the Zodiac killer. Nobody has been convicted for the five murders supposedly committed by him. Maton claimed that the 'media' were to blame for the film being 'misconstrued'.

He said of the film: 'Honestly, we didn't expect it to have the reaction that it did.'We don't like the way the internet misconstrued the concept of it and the direction that they took it without doing proper research.'He also criticized the 'media's lack of proper research into the proper aspects of it.'Police spent days investigating the viral video before concluding it was not  Kayla Berg, and was actually an acted sequence - but the makers of the film could have made clear it was fiction at any time to the detectives trying to work out the truth, ending her mother's agony far sooner. Berg's mother, Hope Sprenger (left and right with her missing daughter Kayla) said the woman in the video 'sounded like her, looked like her'. She said of the hoaxers: 'I think there's something wrong in their heads. You can't make a video like this and think everything is going to be OK.'Asked what she would say if she met the film's team Kayla's mom Hope Sprenger said: 'I would probably have a few choice words. It would not be pretty.'He said the intention was to make 'Walter' into a police officer and added: 'But we didn't bother to continue with it.'It was just great acting… It has come it has gone, we don't want any fame.'But later he presented a statement to Daily. Mail. com explaining more fully the reasons behind his controversial film and speaking on behalf of the other two.

He said: 'We who created the video did so with no intention of harming any one or to correlate to any actual event.'There was no intention of causing emotional harm to any persons.'It was not a hoax or a prank which would have the connotations of causing harm or malice, it was at the time something we considered harmless and meant to be part of a fictional web horror miniseries.'We didn't continue the series as it lacked the interest from our small circle of viewers at the time and was forgotten about.'We apologize that the internet and media took an internet fictional video and via misinformation, bad research, and conclusion jumping caused any emotional distress to anyone.'However, as said before we had no intention when making the video, which was years ago, in causing any emotional harm or correlation to any actual event or persons. It was a work of fiction.'The statement did not address why the three had not immediately come forward to make clear to viewers and especially the police that it was not Berg. The officer leading the investigation into Berg's disappearance, Antigo Police chief Eric Roller described Berg as ' a nice girl'. He added: 'I think it is a disgrace that the people who made that film could think it was artistic.'It played with people's emotions and caused a lot of distress.'His team have scoured the U. S. and Mexico following leads and apparent eye- witness sightings of Berg, which have not been fruitful.

These have included claims that she had been sex trafficked to Mexico, was working in a Texan gas station and a Boston restaurant, none of which have resulted in her being found. Police looking for Kayla Berg have set up a hotline for information which is 7.

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