Love found on the Internet - Brief Article

Airman, Sept, 2001 by Sonja Eckhardt

OFFUTF AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- An Air Force intelligence officer found love at first byte on the Internet.

"I always thought I'd meet my wife on the Internet, but I never thought I'd meet my next-door neighbor," said 1st Lt. David Clayson, an intelligence officer for U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Intelligence Center at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. But that's exactly what he did.

Clayson had a personal ad posted on the Internet, and his neighbor, Melissa Irlmeier, e-mailed him.

He replied, and after chatting online for a few moments, learned she lived in Omaha, too. In fact, she had an apartment in the same building as he, and her apartment was right next door. Irlmeier needed some convincing as to where he actually lived.

"I didn't believe him, so t asked him to call me and he did," she said during a 'Good Morning America' interview. "He asked me out that night." The two met for a date and became engaged three months later.

The story of their chance cyber meeting initially became known through acquaintances to Michael Kelly, an Omaha World-Herald columnist. After Kelly wrote an article, the story went to the wire services, and ABC News picked it up.

"The coolest thing I've seen in the media concerning our meeting was our wedding and reception video on the big screen in Times Square," Clayson said.

Although the Internet meeting sparked curiosity, Clayson has no dreams of stardom, "The best part of the whole thing is that we met and ended up together."