New York man involved in hoax reportedly marries twice in Nevada

Friday, July 26, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

A Brooklyn man who claimed to be a New York Police officer once trapped in the rubble of Sept. 11 has apparently married twice in Nevada to two women within one week, according to sources and marriage records in Clark and Douglas counties.

Daniel McCarthy, 38, made national headlines this week with a story of surviving three days in the rubble of World Trade Center Tower 1. New York police denied the story, which was published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, and said he was never an officer.

Last week, he married 45-year-old Brooklyn divorcee Eleni Golding in a ceremony at Harvey's Resort Casino in Lake Tahoe, according to the Tribune story.

McCarthy married Lucia Casta, 21, of Staten Island, N.Y., 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Rio Suite Hotel, the wedding chapel confirmed today.

The Tahoe General Services office said today that the matter will be turned over to the in Douglas County District Attorney's office.

According to a Clark County Marriage Bureau affidavit of application for marriage, issued on June 16, McCarthy said this was his first marraige.

The same information is listed on the Douglas County Marriage License Application, issued on July 17. However, he spelled his mother's maiden name as "Amato" on that document, and on the Clark County record it is listed as "Amaty."

Also, on the two documents the Social Security numbers match except for the last digit, which is a "9" on the Tahoe record and a "6" on the Las Vegas affidavit.

The McCarthy signatures on both documents are similar while the signatures of Golding and Castelli are different.

Attempts to reach McCarthy were not successful.

A Harrah's spokesman in Las Vegas said it is policy not to comment on hotel guests. Harvey's and the Rio are Harrah's properties.

Metro Police said no warrants have been issued for the arrest of a Daniel McCarthy or for anyone with his Social Security number. A spokesman for Harrah's in Northern Nevada confirmed only that McCarthy, who had stayed at Harrah's Tahoe prior to his wedding, was a Harrah's Diamond Card Club member, but said he received no special privileges as a result of his story of being a New York hero.

McCarthy told a Tahoe minister he was blown out of the ninth floor and buried in rubble for 79 hours. He said his dead grandmother came to him in a vision and urged him to stay alive and await help, according to published reports.

The reverend called the Tribune, which did a story of McCarthy's wedding at

The Tribune ran a follow-up story in its Wednesday edition, calling McCarthy "a fraud."