A Tale Of Two Disappearances

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This picture of Reed was taken by police in 1999, shortly before she disappeared.

This story begins in rural Montana where Esther Elizabeth Reed spent her childhood. Esther was the youngest of eight children and showed promise as an above average student. Esther loved to debate and thrived on her high school speech team. Unfortunately Esther took her parents divorce hard and she dropped out of school her sophomore year.

After her parents divorce, Esther and her mother moved to Seattle where Esther's troubles continued. She joined the debate team at the local high school, but didn't find it as satisfying as her team in Montana and quickly dropped out of high school again. Sadly after Esther mother died of cancer in 1998, Esther found herself lost and without any direction. Police say she started stealing.

The last time Reed's family saw her was in 1999. Reed had been accused of stealing a coworkers purse. Police say Reed pled guilty to those charges and was placed on probation. According to police, this was the last time anyone from Esther's family saw her. They filed a missing person's report in 2004.

In South Carolina, another family was filing a missing person's report. Police were investigating the disappearance of another young woman. Brooke Henson disappeared on July 4, 1999. Brooke was 20 when she vanished from the small town of Travelers Rest, SC. Police say Brooke disappeared after attending a party with friends.

An Identity Crisis

In June 2006, seven years after both girls had last been seen by their families, their paths would cross in the most unlikely of ways.

Police believe that Esther Elizabeth Reed started attending Columbia University as "Brooke Henson." Police believe that Reed was living in New York City and going to school as "Brooke Henson" for almost two years. As police explored how the two missing persons cases were connected, they started to unravel a very long and twisted tale.

Police say that Esther Elizabeth Reed has traveled all over the United States under several different aliases. Police believe that Reed attended California State Fullerton and Harvard University.  She has used the names "Natalie Bowman" and has also been known as "Natalie Fisher."

According to police, Reed has never run up any debt while using other people's identities. But police would still like to talk to Reed to find out just what she has been doing these past seven years and to find out why she uses other people's identities. 

Victimized Twice

Brooke Henson's family tells AMW that they feel like they have been victimized twice -- first when Brooke disappeared and now again, knowing that someone is living as Brooke.

Detectives don't believe that Esther Elizabeth Reed had anything to do with Brooke Henson's disappearance, but they would like to talk to her and hopefully bring closure to two concerned families.   

Wanted For:

• Identity Theft , Greenville , SC

(Information valid as of February 11, 2009)

Associated Persons:

Brooke Henson
Missing Person
»More information

Television Airings:

• »May 24, 2008
• »November 10, 2007
• »November 3, 2007

AMW Radio:

• »February 12 2008
• »November 10 2007

AMW Capture #974

First Day In Court: Reporter's Notebook

Just a few weeks after she was named to the U.S. Secret Service's most-wanted list, Esther Elizabeth Reed faced a federal judge in downtown Chicago on Feb. 4, 2008.  Reed, dressed in brown boots, jeans and a green turtleneck sweater, looked just like any other 20-something woman.  The only telltale signs of her difficult few days were the salt stain on the bottom on her jeans from a weekend snowstorm, and handcuffs around her wrists.  With her hair in a neat French braid tied with a white bow and a wearing a pair of eyeglasses, Reed stood tall in front of a federal judge. 

When the judge asked her if she understood the charges against her, she answered, "I do."  Reed also waived the need for a extradition hearing as her public defender explained that she wanted to get back to South Carolina as soon as possible to face the laundry list of identity theft charges facing her there.

Earlier, Reed answered reporters' questions.  Many of us at AMW, who have worked on her case for almost a year, felt a personal connection to the seemingly lost young woman who had so much potential, but seemed to use it in all the wrong ways.  At first Reed was shy, but after asking Secret Service agents if she could talk to us, Reed opened up.

"They're press," the agent told her. "You can tell them anything you want."

"Can I ask you guys questions?" she asked. Of course, we were happy to let her. 

Reed was most concerned about her father. I told Reed that I had never met with her dad, at her sister's request, but that I believed he was still living in Reed's hometown of Townsend, Mont. 

Reed told reporters that she wasn't tired of living on the run, but that she also didn't regret being arrested.

"I was thinking about it yesterday," she said of her time in a holding cell in Matteson, Ill.

"Obviously I did things wrong," she said. "I wouldn't have changed what happened." 

When I asked Reed exactly what she has been doing during her time on the lam, she told me, "I can't tell you that." 

Likewise, Reed wouldn't explain why she choose Brooke Henson's identity as the one to steal, but did say that she would some day like to privately speak with Brooke's family.

I asked Reed what name she would like us to use when talking with her, since in recent years she's gone by Brooke, Natalie, and Jennifer.  She acted almost confused and shrugged her shoulders.

I asked, "Is Esther OK?"

"Yes," she said. "Esther is fine."

As her time as a fugitive -- running from her own identity -- comes to an end, only time and many more court dates will tell if this young woman is ready to accept what police say are wrongdoings and finally accept her own identity.

By Jenna Griffiths, AMW Staff

An anonymous tipster to AMW helped the Secret Service and the U.S. Marshals track down Reed.  AMW received an e-mail address that Reed was reportedly using. 

This e-mail address helped law enforcement track Reed's whereabouts, first helping to determine what name Esther was using. With the name "Jennifer Myers" in hand, police found an Iowa driver's license and a 1993 green Subaru legacy, with Iowa license plates, all in the name of "Jennifer Myers."

Law enforcement knew that Reed liked to stay at modestly-priced hotels such as Holiday Inn Express and La Quinta, so when officials tracked Reed, a.k.a. Myers, to Tinley Park, Ill., they knew just where to look.

Reed was arrested at a Sleepy Inn in Tinley Park without incident.  The green Subaru legacy, with Iowa plates, was parked out front.

Reed Pleads Guilty To Fraud Charges

Reed had been on the run for nine years when an AMW tipster brought her life as a fugitive to an end in suburban Chicago in February 2008, and on Aug. 19, 2008, she pled guilty to fraud charges in South Carolina.

Police say Reed stole identities of at least six women and commited mail fraud, loan fraud and wire fraud. 

She faces 47 years in a federal lock-up and more than $1 million in fines.