It seems like everybody loves a good scandal except the people involved in it.

How must it feel to be Jill Kelley right now?

Talking heads, journalists and the Chatty Cathys everywhere are telling stories about her and how she might be tied to the downfall of America's top spy, David Petraeus. National security secrets could be at stake, though no one has offered proof of a breach.

She's kept quiet, yet details of her personal life are quickly leaking out. Reports don't reveal much except that she's a socialite who threw charity events for the military community in Tampa where she lives with her oncologist husband and three kids.

Her hometown newspaper in Philadelphia trotted out some basic biography: Kelley's parents immigrated to the United States from Lebanon in the 1970s and once ran a restaurant in New Jersey. She has a twin sister.

A picture of Kelley walking out of her home wearing a smart canary yellow dress and carrying a hot pink handbag has led stories on major news outlets with headlines such as Family: Scandal will 'brand' Jill Kelley 'for life' and Jill Kelley: Five Facts About the Petraeus Affair's Mystery Woman.

It all sounds so salacious. And some of it is very harsh.

A senior official close to another military superstar ensnared in the controversy -- the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen -- called Kelley a "bored, rich socialite involved with every single senior commander" because she did unpaid work as a military "honorary ambassador."

Allen has his own role in this controversy. More on him later.

What is known, beyond all the speculation and whispered excitement, is what the FBI has said, according to U.S. officials: Last summer, Kelley went to a friend who worked at the agency's Tampa branch because she was receiving allegedly "jealous" e-mails from an unknown person.

That person is now believed to be Paula Broadwell, a woman with whom Petraeus was having an affair.

Petraeus, who has acknowledged his relationship with Broadwell, is a married father of two who many regarded as one of the finest military commanders in recent U.S. history.

Before the scandal broke, Broadwell said in numerous interviews to plug her book about him, titled "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus," that she spent hours with Petraeus in Afghanistan. The two bonded on long runs together, she said.

Critics have described Broadwell's biography as gushing. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart joked about whether her book made Petraeus look "awesome or incredibly awesome."

Now "All In" is being parsed for double entendres.

FBI investigators, whose investigation began with Kelley's complaint, eventually found explicit e-mail exchanges between Petraeus and Broadwell that revealed the affair.

Petraeus resigned as CIA chief on Friday, writing to CIA staff that he'd acted in ways "unacceptable both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."

Cue the insatiable news media and its endless news cycle. By Monday, FBI agents had searched Broadwell's tony home in Charlotte, North Carolina, telling CNN they were looking for any documents sensitive to national security.

Back in Tampa, Kelley called 911 on November 11 complaining that a man she didn't know was on her property and told police that she is an "honorary consul general," which meant she has "inviolability."

"So they should not be able to cross my property," she told the 911 operator. "I don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well ..."

Kelley called police at least five times concerning people in and around her home, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy told CNN. Reporters are outside the residence.

Kelley appears to be a volunteer who helped to welcome international visitors to Tampa but had no official job with the U.S. government or the State Department, CNN learned Wednesday.

Top military brass have been guests at the Kelley home, but it's unclear if Allen or Petraeus were aware of the Kelleys' financial difficulties or the unusual background of a charity they founded.

Public records show that in April of 2010, about six years after the Kelleys purchased their $1.5 million home, Regions Bank filed to foreclose on the property, saying the couple hadn't made a mortgage payment since September 2009.

The Kelley family faced at least nine lawsuits involving money, according to public records, including large unpaid credit card bills of more than $320,000.