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"Other" Holly Jones targeted by misguided outrage over viral Kilroy's post

A lot of people had some mean things to say to the Holly Jones who wrote a nasty note about a woman who had a heart attack at Kilroy's on New Year's Eve.
This Holly Jones is not the Holly Jones who posted a nasty message on Kilroy's Facebook page.

William Shakespeare once asked, "What's in a name?"

Well, if your name's Holly Jones and you live in Indianapolis, the answer to that question isn't an easy one.

"I like my name," said the 44-year-old.

Meet Holly Jones, geologist, published scientist and head of the non-profit Indiana Urban Forest Council, which promotes planting more trees in cities.

"I'm happy I have my name. I wouldn't change a thing," said Jones.

That's even after a week of receiving nasty messages on Facebook from all over the world.

RELATED: Kilroy's complaint, response goes viral

"Oh, they were hateful. They were really disgusting, hateful," said Jones of the messages she received from total strangers, some she said, from people who live here.

"Death threats and very disturbing hateful things. I had no idea where it was coming from or why," Jones explained. "I thought, 'Wow, someone has done something really bad that has my name. I don't what's going on.'"

What Jones soon discovered was a Facebook post from another Holly Jones in Indianapolis that had gone viral, after that Holly complained her New Year's Eve was ruined at Kilroy's downtown, after staff paid more attention to someone having a heart attack, instead of her and her friends trying to pay their bill.

"For about 24 hours, I was just devastated to think of humanity and what people are willing to do from reading a little story," said Jones. "The reaction to this one just really seemed to hit people where it really mattered and resonated."

RELATED: Kilroy's gets worldwide support after viral post

The messages to this Holly Jones got so nasty, she thought about calling police.

"I just started blocking people," said Jones.

Then she changed her profile picture to a message that read, "Not Holly Jones that went to Kilroy's on New Year's Eve."

Since then, Jones says, the tone of the messages did a complete 180. 

"I got all these messages from people saying, 'Gosh, I'm so sorry that that's been happening,'" explained Jones.

And even though this Holly Jones isn't that Holly Jones, this one says she hopes the whole thing serves as a lesson in empathy for everyone, not just for that Holly Jones, but for the people hating on her.

"She did something stupid. That's all. She had some bad behavior," said Jones. "I don't think you deserve to die or be killed or choked or have a heart attack and there were a lot of pretty awful things that people said assuming I was that person."

For this Holly Jones, she's putting it all behind her, even laughing that the whole matter's meant she's been keeping up with some other Joneses - her siblings.

"My brother's name is Davey Jones and my older brother is Tom Jones, so they're like 'Oh, girl, you're in the club'," explained Jones.

A club, of which, this Holly Jones, never asked to be a part, but she's okay, right where she is with the name her parents gave her.

"I'm content with my identity, " Jones said. "I'm happy. I'm keeping my name and my brand is not ruined."

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