The top editor of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus has been dismissed. Publisher John Mitchell says details of a story written by Managing Editor Scott Fletcher in September were not true. Fletcher wrote of a 16-year-old girl identified only as Dee Dee, who was addicted to heroin. Fletcher says the girl worked as a prostitute to support her addiction.
Mitchell says questions were raised after the story was published and the newspaper’s subsequent investigation determined the part of the story concerning Dee Dee wasn’t true. Fletcher says he stands by the story. He says the girl has left Montpelier and he was never able to get her last name or any other details that would prove her existence.