Capture The Queen

She's Young, She's A Con, And She Is Evading Law Enforcement

(CBS)  On July 4th, 1999, Brooke Leigh Henson was reported missing in the small, quiet town of Travelers Rest, S.C., prompting a police investigation to locate the young woman.

There was a potential break in the case in 2006, when police got wind of a woman calling herself "Brooke Henson" in New York City. But as correspondent Peter Van Sant reports, as investigators dug deeper they uncovered an intricate web of lies, spun by a woman named Esther Reed.

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The "Brooke Henson" in New York was taking classes at the prestigious Columbia University, and had told friends she had a lucrative career as a professional chess player.

But that scenario seemed far-fetched to South Carolina Detective Jon Campbell. That's because the missing person Campbell was after was a free-spirited young woman who never made it past the tenth grade.

"I didn’t think it was possible that Brooke had gone to New York and somehow got into an Ivy League school after she'd been a high school dropout," Det. Campbell explains.

But the Brooke in New York seemed genuine: she could even answer personal questions provided to police by her aunt Lisa Henson. But when Lisa saw a photo of the New York woman in July 2006, she was not looking at her niece.

Campbell called back to the NYPD, hoping to get some DNA from the mystery woman; police made an appointment to get a sample, but "Brooke Henson" never showed up.

The woman using Brooke's name was actually another missing person, Esther Elizabeth Reed. Like Brooke, Esther had disappeared in 1999.

As police would learn, the mystery of Esther Reed is a cross-country saga of fraud, fake identities, and frustrated dreams. It all began in the rural community of Townsend, Mont., where Esther was born and raised. People there remember her as a young woman with talents, and troubles.

Edna Strom, one of Esther's eight older siblings, showed 48 Hours Esther's childhood home, where new owners found a trunk full of the young woman's belongings and mementos, including pictures.

In photos, Esther looked like a happy young girl. But the happy child would grow into a sullen, maladjusted teen, who wrote in a 1999 e-mail to her sister Edna, "When I was 14, I learned how to lock myself up in a little box and I had no idea how to unlock it. …I feel like I had this wall surrounding my soul and I couldn't get out and nothing could get in."

Like many teens, Esther was self-conscious about her weight, and had trouble coping when her parents divorced in 1995.

"She was having a lot of trouble at home and I think that interfered with her abilities as a student," remembers Jim Therriault, who was Esther's English teacher. He also coached her in the one school activity she really seemed to enjoy: competitive debate.

"She wanted to be a lawyer. And she would be so good. But she always talked about going to school, to Harvard," Edna remembers.

But despite her smarts, Esther dropped out of high school as her emotional problems mounted.

"What do you think Esther saw when she looked in the mirror?" Van Sant asks Therriault.

"Somebody she didn't want to be. Someone she didn't like. Someone I think she would have done anything to escape from if she could have," he replies.

The first of many escapes came when Esther and her mother Florence moved from Montana to the Seattle area, where her sister Edna was living. But in 1998 tragedy struck when her mother died after a long battle with cancer.

Edna says Esther was close to her mother. "My mom was Esther's champion," Edna explains. "Esther felt like no one understood her but my mom. And when my mom died she felt like it really didn't matter. That she didn't matter to anybody anymore."

At the same time, 3,000 miles away in South Carolina, a similar tale of teenage angst was playing out in Brooke Henson's house. Like Esther, Brooke had also quit high school, and worse, had started dating a known bad boy.

Det. Campbell says the boyfriend, Ricky Shaun Shirley, had convictions for drug violations and assaults.

When 20-year-old Brooke disappeared, hours after getting in an argument with him, the family quickly focused its suspicion on Shirley and his friends. And when the cops came calling, Shirley clammed up. "He got a lawyer," Campbell recalls.

With no cooperating witnesses and no body, Brooke's case was little more than a tangle of rumors and country gossip. But it all pointed in one direction. "I believe she was killed. And her body was disposed of," Campbell tells Van Sant.

Asked if it is possible that Brooke simply ran away, Campbell says, "I don't think Brooke was good enough to run away, to disappear entirely with a tenth grade education and drop off the face of the earth and not leave any trail."

Travis...furthermore, the 2007 treaty between USA and Great Britain does include Isle of Man. Check page 13 of the following document...
http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/KFile/371332_CMND_7146.pdf

Travis...I wasn''t talking about the Isle of Man, I was talking about the government''s investigation.

[mona210-2009]

And just to weigh in on hearseluv''s and luvtrucrime''s debate over why Esther is getting more attention than Brooke, I agree that Esther story is unfortunately more interesting. It''s also ongoing, where as it''s pretty clear that Brooke is dead. Yes, it was extremely insensitive of Campbell to refer to her as "not good enough", but people would be making the same assumption about Esther if she hadn''t proven otherwise. Esther''s case would resemble Brooke''s - a missing person most likely dead and just as likely never to be found - if she hadn''t committed the crimes that people are finding so fascinating (before somebody reams me for my choice of words let me say that fascinating, just like compelling or intriguing, is not automatically positive - Esther Reed can be fascinating the same way OBL was intriguing to Time or Newsweek or which ever magazine it was). I''m sure that there are more missing persons cases out there than can be counted that are just as deserving of attention as Brooke''s, but not getting any period. At least Brooke is getting some national media now.

[mona210-2009]

When I first learned of Esther/Brooke''s story on CNN last winter I read a few articles online about it and I wish Van Sant had talked about/to more of Esther''s family. I remember getting the impression from the articles that her family was quite dysfunctional - Edna Strom was not her only 1/2 or step sibling - and that she had possibly been abused by family before her disappearance and by a boyfriend after. Not that this would excuse what she''s done, but it would provide a better motive than poor self-esteem.

[lauren0211]

Esther, are you reading this? Do the right thing. Stop running. It can be a lonely world out there.
There are some people who still care about you.
I wish you well, and hope you are ok and out of harms way. It is time to stop and think.

[travis_towle]

coldsteel71 - I do know what I am talking about - do a search on my name on Google... hummm that site IRAradio.com of mine was shut down by the FBI in 2001 %u2013 how would I know about an island with no extradition huh %u2013 probably because most of the IRA & Orange boys are there hiding along with other government avoiders in plain site with no fear of extradition right? So keep your comments about my comments and me not knowing facts to yourself or do your own research.

[hearseluv]

luvtrucrime, I can say a lot about Brooke.
1. She is missing
2. She is loved by her family and they are doing everything possible to find her
3. The TRPD didn''t care about Brooke in 1999 and Jon Campbell proved that with his laugh and statement Campbell says, "I don''t think Brooke was good enough to run away, to disappear entirely with a tenth grade education and drop off the face of the earth and not leave any trail." (Btw..he is no longer with the TRPD)
If you wasn''t so wrapped up in Esther you would know the answers to your questions.

[luvtrucrime]

ok, but what can you say about brooke? there seems to be so little information. why are the police not hammering away at the boyfriend that she fought with the last night she was seen? what is his history? are they looking for any other suspects? who saw them fighting and was that person(s) questioned?
and a question about esther reed. is she the next sante kimes?

[hearseluv]

What is wrong with you people???? Brooke Henson is MISSING!! Her family is no closer to knowing the truth today than they were 8 years ago. Who cares about Esther Reed???!!!! Her family knows she is alive. I''m sick of hearing about Esther. It''s time people stopped glorifying this con-artist. She is a CRIMINAL!

[rashid821]

This is a fascinating story! I bet it would be a box office hit when done on a big screen.

Travis...you have no idea what you are talking about. Until you have your facts straight, you should probably keep your comments to yourself.

[diallosma]

I just wanted to share a little of my story to show CBS just how someone could stay on the run for years. At 18 I started making money by illegal means. At 20 I got caught but after I bailed out I changed my name and "went on the run." Vermont you can get a license in one day but you can in North Carolina too. So I got a license in N.C. but got a new one same name in Kentucky. Made up SSN and lease will get you an ID in almost any state (I won''t share the details :)) Every time I moved I changed SSN and disconnected phone and left no forwarding address. As simple as that I was a fugitive for 3 yrs. Like the man said "it''s a lonely life." I did get caught but it was after I had quit the illegal stuff and had my son. It was inevitable just a matter of how and when the right time was. She will get caught eventually but most likely it will just be because she''s tired of looking over her shoulder.

[luvtrucrime]

hmmmmmm! now which one of you writing a comment is esther reed?

[ken_sch]

The thing that get''s me is that people would buy the story that she was making all this money playing in chess tournaments.

[kurtisvlaurl]

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 was beautiful. I really thought it odd she was with an old man. It didn''t register with me then why a woman young and beautiful would be with such an old man?, but I guess it makes sense if she was conning money for a living. At least that didn''t stop her from giving me an elaborate massage.

I am highly disappointed with the story about Esther Reed/Brooke Henson. You did not cover the Brooke aspect in enough detail. You asked viewers to come forward with any information that could help to find Esther. Why was there no such request for information that could lead the police to Brooke? There was also no mention of the $12,000 reward money available for information that leads to finding Brooke. Esther''s family knows that she is ALIVE and a FUGITIVE. Brooke''s family is no closer to getting her disappearance solved. Jon Campbell''s comment about Brooke being a dropout and not being "good enough" to disappear should not have aired. After all, Esther is also a high school dropout. What makes Esther better than Brooke? The story seemed to treat Brooke as a footnote in Esther''s status as a criminal. It is Esther who should have been used as a footnote in the disappearance of Brooke. You could have done so much more to help find Brooke. Here is an idea, Make another show to showcase Brooke. I''m sure you have enough footage that was cut from Esther''s show. Why didn''t you use your high dollar detective to help find Brooke? Help Brooke''s family - FIND BROOKE!