Fun-Loving Girl Vanishes

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Brooke Henson has been missing from Travelers Rest, SC since July 4, 1999.

Brooke Leigh Henson was known as "Brookey" to her friends. She was a fun-loving girl, who enjoyed shopping with her mother and hiking in the South Carolina mountains. In fact, she loved the outdoors -- that's the place she felt most at home. Mysteriously, on July 4, 1999, she vanished and police suspect foul play.

Police say on July 3, 1999, Brooke hosted a party with several of her friends. Unfortunately, Brooke and her boyfriend had a disagreement that night and Brooke wanted to take a walk to get some fresh air.

She left at 2:30 a.m. and planned to walk to a convenience store two blocks away. Brooke was last seen walking along Henderson Drive in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. Police have followed numerous leads since her disappearance but have been unable to find Brooke.

Hope Found and Hope Lost

Finally in the summer of 2006, Brooke Henson's relatives received news that offered a glimmer of hope. Police in New York City called detectives in Travelers Rest, South Carolina and told them they had located Brooke. They said she was living in Manhattan.  But the hope was short-lived.

When Travelers Rest detectives compared notes with New York detectives, they made a sinister discovery.  Someone had stolen Brooke Henson's identity.  Police say the woman living in Manhattan was actually Esther Elizabeth Reed.  Police believe Reed stole Henson's identity and was accepted to Columbia University as Brooke. 

Police have no evidence that Reed used her fake ID to defraud anyone other than universities. But if they can find her, investigators would like to question her about money transfers from overseas and her taste for dating future military officers from West Point and Annapolis.

Police And Family: Please Help

There are many facets to this mystery that police need help solving.  First, police, and Brooke's family need to know if she is dead or alive.  If she's alive -- where is she?  But, if, as police assume, she met with foul play -- where is her body?  And, who killed her? 

Police also want to know where Esther Elizabeth Reed is.  Police believe AMW's viewers can help answer many of these questions.

Associated Persons:

Esther Reed
Police believe Esther Reed stole Brooke Henson's.
Fugitive
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Television Airings:

• »November 10, 2007
• »November 3, 2007