Saturday, December 1, 2007

"Capture the Queen: A 48 Hours Mystery"

"48 Hours Mystery" is on tonight, December 1, 2007, on CBS stations. From The New York Post HOW DID SHE DO IT? (A review of "48 Hours Mystery") By Linda Stasi '48 HOURS' TRACKS COLUMBIA FRAUD STUDENT December 1, 2007 -- HOW does anyone disappear, reappear in a different guise, disappear and then reappear again in a post 9-11 world? It's impossible. Isn't it? The government likes to think it is. And hell, we like to think it is, too - unless of course you're the one doing the disappearing. Take Esther Elizabeth Reed, a 20-year-old woman who disappeared from her Seattle home in the summer of 1999. You might know her, or at least recognize, her as Brooke Henson, because earlier this year she made the front pages here. At that point, she had been uncovered as a fraud while enrolled at Columbia University. As a student there she maintained a 3.22 GPA, and played competitive chess. Before that she was a student at Harvard and before that she was enrolled at the Cal State Fullerton campus of the debate institute there. Turns out that Brooke Henson, one of just four identities that Reed, a high school dropout, assumed, was the name of another young high school dropout who'd disappeared the same summer that Reed disappeared - but in South Carolina. Her other assumed identities at various schools included Natalie Fisher and Natalie Bowman. When Henson's family found out that a student with her ID was registered at Columbia, they thought they'd found their missing relative. But before they could identify her, Reed had disappeared again. "48 Hours Mystery" takes a hard, long look into the Esther Reed mystery and it's riveting. You'd think it would be tough enough to disappear and assume another identity, but to do so using the name of a missing high school drop-out and still get into Harvard and Columbia? Now that's impossible! Reporter Peter Van Sant and private investigator Steve Rambam together try to track down the missing-again young woman and what they uncover is fascinating. For some reason, she left meticulous records at the last apartment she lived in NYC - credit card bills, you name it. Rambam found everyone she'd been in contact with over those months, including her best friend from her Fullerton days, Bita Shaghagi, a medical student; Steven Fouts, a Chicago resident and convicted sex offender whose cell phone Reed had called repeatedly; and Kyle Brengel, a military academy cadet whom Esther had dated and to whom she'd e-mailed her desire to become a spy. And that's why the government is more than a bit concerned with finding Reed. Is the high school dropout/brilliant college student with a lot of mysterious money and some plastic surgery a spy? Or is she just a psycho who happens to be better at the game than anyone else? Hard to tell, because she's totally vanished. Again. Great stuff.

6 comments:

KVL said...

At the 2007 Oregon Country Fair (Veneta, Oregon) there was a woman whose faced looked A LOT like Esther Elizabeth Reed's face at the clothing optional sauna and showers. She had a very beautiful body. I really thought it odd she was with an old sugar daddy boyfriend. It didn't register with me then why a woman so hot would be with such an old bastard?, but I guess it makes sense if she was on the run conning money. At least that didn't stop her from giving me a full body massage.

Jan said...

Darling, have you passed this info on to the FBI? LOL! Seriously, I hope you got a wonderful massage.

Personally, I wonder why Esther Elizabeth Reed warrants so much attention. She hasn't killed anyone, she hasn't robbed any banks, she hasn't blown up a towering office building or a day care center. So, she has some bogus student loans outstanding - well - helllooooooooo - what's the difference between doing that and lawyers, doctors, engineers, nuclear physicists, etc. etc. filing for bankruptcy 6 years after they finish their schooling and discharging their remaining student loan obligations? Or just not paying them back at all, practically daring the government to come after them (it rarely does).

For my part, I hope EER has hooked up with a really rich sugar daddy, has a couple of kids, and votes the Democratic ticket in the next election.

Anonymous said...

What a morally bankrupt statement you just posted Jan. But then again, it's not surprising given your political proclivities.

Jan said...

December 6th anonymous, the only morally bankrupt person around here is you, darling. I don't hide my identity or my beliefs. If you don't like either, don't read here then, begone with you. We don't want people like you, hiding behind an "anonymous" tag, sniffing around here looking to cause trouble - coward! As for the lady in question, she hasn't done anything that lots of gigolos haven't also done and gotten away with for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, much to their financial benefit. So she played the game, got some money, and skipped town a couple of times. Now she has to be a spy because she outsmarted the cops? Oh please! What a dumb excuse to excuse official incompetence in the face of an intelligent woman who plays the game better than the boys.

grimwomyn said...

I am seriously in awe of this woman-- I have been combing the web for hours trying to find more info about her.

Wowsa-- so great-- I hope she reveals herself when she is really old living in a wonderful castle in the south of France with grandchildren crawling over her feet-- run Esther, run

Jan said...

Hello Priscella,

I don't know if we will ever hear from Esther again - or if we do - that we would recognize her signature :)

Jan

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