A West View cupcake business launched in 2017 by a family trying to raise money to cover the medical expenses for their gravely ill son has abruptly closed.
A message posted on the Facebook page for Cupcakes for Cohen on Sunday outlined the problems they are experiencing and asked customers who have already placed orders to call to arrange for a refund.
The posting was taken down on Monday morning and both numbers listed on the page for people to call did not connect during repeated calls by the Tribune-Review.
Emails sent to the company also were not returned.
A West View police detective said the department has received several inquiries from people who also have been unable to reach the company by telephone or email for a refund.
He said police are looking into whether the company’s failure to deliver customer orders is a result of problems they are experiencing or is intentional.
Detective Steve Ganster said anyone who prepaid for an order should contact the company they used to make the payment to determine if they can get a refund or stop payment.
Only a handful of the calls received were from people who paid for their order in advance, he said.
The business was launched in 2017 by Jason Muhl to help raise money to offset the cost of treatment for his young son Cohen, who was suffering from a brain tumor, according to the family.
Muhl began by hawking the cupcakes from a roadside stand along Perry Highway, where they continued to set up weekly.
The company also has regularly supplied cupcakes for various groups to sell for fundraisers, according to its social media posts.
Muhl was charged by West View police on Dec. 16 with misdemeanor counts of unlawful restraint and drug possession as well as harassment and released on an unsecured bond. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Richard Opiela on Jan. 4.
Police wrote in a criminal complaint that officers arrested Muhl after responding to a call at his Chalfonte Avenue home for a report of a woman suffering from a drug overdose.
Police said they found four empty stamp bags and two of them filled with heroin when they investigated the call.
Investigators said Monday that Muhl’s arrest and the closing of the business he operated with his wife do not appear to be related.
Muhl also was one of 178 people charged by the state Inspector General in May 2019 with welfare fraud.
Muhl was accused of illegally obtaining $4,667 worth of food stamps, according to authorities.
