Mom: My Son Dieted to Death ...Thanks to the Army

Glenni Wilsey, about six feet tall, weighed roughly 270 pounds in high school. When he died this month at age 20, he weighed just 197 pounds. He had shed 85 pounds in only 3 and a half months—because, his mother says, Army recruiters encourgaged him to do so. Wilsey was told that in order to achieve his goal of enlisting in the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and going on active duty, he would need to lose 70 pounds—fast, mom Lora Bailey tells Fox 8 Cleveland.

She claims recruiters encouraged him to wear a waist band and wet suit under two sweat suits, run for hours after eating only 800 calories a day, and even purge through vomiting. Though he eventually appeared emaciated, he was allegedly told he still had seven pounds to lose. Two days later, he collapsed and died from acute cardiac dysrhythmia due to a dieting-related electrolyte imbalance. The Army is investigating Bailey's claims. (More Glenni Wilsey stories.)