WALL, N.J. — On her MySpace page, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, an alleged call girl known as Kristen who helped lay low New York’s governor, writes of a past checkered with poverty and even homelessness.
It’s a tough image to reconcile with the opulent home here where she lived most of her childhood with her mother, older brother and stepfather, an oral surgeon.
The white brick home, which sits on a grassy rise in an upscale development near the Jersey Shore, is bordered with manicured shrubs and a wide, curved driveway. Large brass letters spell “PEACE” above the polished, auburn wood door.
A similar house next door, where one of Dupre’s close childhood friends still lives, is on the market for more than $1.5 million, according to its owner.
Lauren Del Valle, 24, has long blond hair and drives a black BMW convertible. The pair, one year apart in age, attended Wall Township High School together until Ashley’s abrupt departure after her sophomore year.
“Honestly, I can’t even fathom it,” she said of her old friend’s alleged involvement with Gov. Eliot Spitzer. “I mean, Little Ashley. It’s like, is this really happening?”Growing up, Ashley was a “good, good girl” who was a cheerleader in middle school, baby-sat for neighborhood kids, and liked to karaoke to pop tunes in her ribbon-decorated bedroom, Del Valle said.
“We’d sing Brandi and just stupid stuff like that,” she recalled.
Other than “stupid typical parent stuff,” Del Valle said her friend seemed to have a close relationship with her mother and stepfather. She had “a few flings with boys” but no serious boyfriends, she said.
Del Valle shrugged when asked about Dupre’s online claims about poverty and abuse. While acknowledging that she has seen Ashley infrequently since she moved to North Carolina as a teenager to live with her biological father, she never saw signs of trouble.
“She would have told me because we were really close,” Del Valle said. “From what I know, they had a lot of money and a lot of things. From what I know, she had a normal, fine childhood.”
Dupre’s mother, Carolyn Capalbo, left the house early in the day carrying two bags without speaking to reporters, witnesses said.
The lack of opportunity to talk with Ashley’s family did not deter a small army of reporters, photographers and television camera men. TV trucks with New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania plates circled the cul du sac up the street and settled in long lines along the curved streets. ET, Inside Edition, and People Magazine all were represented.
Neighbors appeared to take the media horde in good humor. “I’m going to get a hot dog cart and make a few bucks,” said a woman who walked by with her son.
Wearing a white tennis outfit and walking her terrier mix, Baxter, Michelle Quense, 40, said she remembered Ashley as a grade schooler putting fliers for baby-sitting services in neighborhood mailboxes.
Like Del Valle, she shrugged at the mention of Dupre’s description of a hardscrabble upbringing. “It’s not a rough neighborhood, as you can see,” she said.
Alleged prostitute in Spitzer case enjoyed wealthy childhood
This undated image obtained from a MySpace webpage shows a woman identified as Ashley Alexandra Dupre. The New York Times reported Wednesday March 12, 2008 that the name of the woman identified as "Kristen" in court papers alleging that Gov. Eliot Spitzer paid more than $4,000 for prostitutes' services is Dupre. The Times also reported that the woman, born as Ashley Youmans, legally changed her name to Ashley Rae Maika DiPietro and is now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre. (AP Photo)
