Nov. 21, 2009
48 Hours: Catch Her If You Can
A Con Artist Reveals How She Scammed Her Way Into Harvard And Columbia And Outsmarted The Feds
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Play CBS Video Video Catch Her If You Can In Full: In her exclusive first interview, con artist Esther Reed reveals how she scammed her way into the Ivy League, outsmarted the feds and spent nearly nine years on the run. Peter Van Sant has her story.
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Video Life On the Run Before her arrest, former con man Frank Abagnale, whose exploits inspired the film "Catch Me If You Can," talked to 48 Hours about life on the run and gives perspective on Esther Reed's mindset.
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Interactive ID Theft See how you may be vulnerable, learn about new scams and get tips to protect your good name.
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Missing: Brooke Henson
When Brooke Henson went missing from tiny Travelers Rest, S.C. on July 4, 1999, her friends and family clung to the hope that they would see her again. Six years later, there was a sighting: Brooke turned up at Columbia University in New York.
But as it turned out, it wasn't the "real" Brooke Henson - it was a con artist named Esther Reed.
Esther, another small-town girl from Montana, was smart and manipulative, and in the midst of a decade-long trail of deception. She conned her way into Harvard and Columbia and stole over $100,000 in student loans. Stealing identities and perpetrating fraud, Esther's escapades took her across the country, including relationships with West Point and Annapolis military men.
Eventually, the feds were in hot pursuit. She even ended up on the U.S. Secret Service's Most Wanted List - always managing to stay one step ahead of authorities.
No one could catch her… until now.
"I became a different person in name only. I’m basically the same girl.
"In first grade I was Esther Elizabeth Reed for a while. When I was 18, I was Elizabeth Reed…then I was Natalie Fisher. Then I went by the name Natalie Bowman… then Brook Henson and finally, Jennifer Myers," Esther Reed tells 48 Hours Mystery correspondent Peter Van Sant.
Esther granted 48 Hours her first interview. The circumstances of how we found her will become clear as this mystery is unraveled.
Private investigator Steve Rambam, working for 48 Hours, and U.S. Marshal John Bridge were each searching for the elusive Esther Reed.
"Right now, she must be living a life trying to keep one step ahead of the law," Rambam says. "She really is very much on the run now, I think in a way that she never was before."
"Esther Reed is cunning, she's calculated, and she's intelligent," Bridge says. "That's the perfect combination for a con artist."
After stealing many identities and running numerous brilliant scams, this master con woman earned a spot on the
U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins has investigated Esther's background. "She lived this life as other people. She was not Esther Reed from 1999 on," he explains. "She's good. She's real good."
Trying to understand the riddle of Esther Reed, 48 Hours Mystery traveled to her hometown of Townsend, Montana.
"It's a very small town in the middle of Montana and if you blink you miss it," Edna Strom, one of Esther’s eight older siblings, explains. "We used to play in the crick a lot. And that was a big thing, especially if you could do it without mom finding out."
Strom has not seen Esther in person for nearly a decade, but agreed to show Van Sant their family home. She also shared the contents of a trunk with items belonging to Esther, that found in the attic by the home's current owners.
The trunk is the first in a trail of clues a 48 Hours investigation will uncover. Inside, Strom finds a dress belonging to her younger sister and a photo of Esther as a child. "I'd say she's like four or five… She was always smiling," says Strom.
Van Sant later shows that same photo to Esther. "Yes. I was a very happy kid. Very, very happy," she says.
"What goes through your mind when you look at that?" asks Van Sant.
Crying, she says, "It's hard 'cause (long pause) this period of my life was great… It's just a shame what happened and how I disappeared."
"Why did you disappear?" he continues. "I just was so afraid of the world," she says.
After Esther's parents divorced, Esther felt like an outcast.
"What do you think Esther saw when she looked in the mirror?" Van Sant asks Jim Therriault, Esther's English teacher and debate coach.
"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. "She was very, very smart. A kid with so much potential…"
When asked by Van Sant if she is intellectually gifted, Esther says, "Yes. I assimilate information quickly. I remember it. I'm able to problem solve, things like that."
Esther and her brother, E.J. Reed, were very close. He felt Esther's brilliance every day, especially when they played chess.
"She blew me away. I mean, I couldn't even hold a candle to her," he says. "She's definitely always thinkin’ a little bit ahead."
But as smart as she was, Esther dropped out of high school and moved with her
mom to Seattle. In 1998, Esther's mother passed away.
"My mom always just loved me. If she was there, it was fine," she says, crying. "…and when she died, it wasn't fine, anymore. Nothing was fine anymore."
Strom says Esther didn't like who she was or where she was going. "She would say, 'I just wish I was someone else.'"
Esther's metamorphasis from small town girl to big city con woman had begun, and so did her life of crime.
"I have lost my only compass in life. I've lost my only support system," she says of the loss of her mother. "And I'm spiraling out of control and I have nowhere to turn."
During this period, she pleaded guilty to stealing her co-workers purse, a misdemeanor.
Esther even took Strom's purse and drained her checking account of thousands of dollars.
"It was like somebody slugged me in the stomach," she says. "I just told her, 'You can't live like this… You have ripped me off.' And, you know, 'Who are you?'"
Esther describes their relationship as toxic. "I think I push her buttons and I think she pushes my buttons."
The last time they say each other Strom says, "We just hugged each other and said we loved each other. And then she said, 'I promise I will keep in touch.' And she did for a while."
Strom never saw her sister again. Esther Reed had ceased to exist.
Produced by Paul LaRosa and Chris O'Connell
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Add a Comment See all 23 Comments
- It is really scray to think that our system is so full of holes that somebody like this was able to get away with it for so long. Multiple credit cards? Getting into Ivy League schools? A fake passport? It appears that the honest man or woman does not stand a chance.
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- Those tears are because she was sorry she got caught and not because she was sorry for her victims. She created her life of lies. Let those lies eat her alive which they probably will.
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- It's a shame she used her talents to steal. This is what the low class scum bags do. She got off much too easy. I'd think a sentence of 10 years would be more appropriate.
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- I saw just the last few minutes of this program and I would love to know when its going to be aired again. You see I adopted one of Elizabeth Reeds dogs. When she was arrested that nite in that hotel across the highway from Lane Bryant, the police took your two dogs and gave them to a pet adoption agency near by. they told me where he came from and alittle about his life with her. I want her to know that Odie (i changed his name) is doing really good and he's happy. I don't want her to know where I live though. Just in case, when and if she does get out of jail , she'll come looking for him. I have the dog that you see she's holding in her hands in some of the pictures you have seen. So please let me know when "catch her if you can" will be aired. I feel sorry for my little dog because of the life he must have had with her. Oh well he's great now!
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- I agree with one blogger on here in tat there are a lot of Esthers out there. All you need to do is look at the fact that America leads the whole World in divorce, teenage pregnacies and juvenile crime. I haven't met one man in my life thats going to leave a happy home, not one. But I've met thousands who couldn't wait to get away from their significant others. Its very sad. Deception - is not that hard to master. Esther just elevated hers to the next level. One more place to see this is right here on CBS 48 hours mysteries - I've seen countless shows where these women do there husbands in for the insurance money and so forth - its truly sad. Another good place to see other Esthers out there is the show "Cheaters" thats my favorite. You'll see a bunch of Esthers on their.
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- I agree with one blogger on here in tat there are a lot of Esthers out there. All you need to do is look at the fact that America leads the whole World in divorce, teenage pregnacies and juvenile crime. I haven't met one man in my life thats going to leave a happy home, not one. But I've met thousands who couldn't wait to get away from their significant others. Its very sad. Deception - is not that hard to master. Esther just elevated hers to the next level. One more place to see this is right here on CBS 48 hours mysteries - I've seen countless shows where these women do there husbands in for the insurance money and so forth - its truly sad. Another good place to see other Esthers out there is the show "Cheaters" thats my favorite. You'll see a bunch of Esthers on their.
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- Why we are giving airtime to this horrible woman's story is beyond me.
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- Hey mai519,
Are you Esther trying to con us again? I'll never forget that evil look in your eyes when the 48 hours reporter asked you if you were a spy. You squinted your eyes and had the most evil look I have ever seen. The reason you should not be let out of jail is because of the path of self-destruction and selfishness you choose, instead choosing society to blame for your bad childhood. There is no doubt in my mind that when you are let out of prison, you will resort to more crimes. Why? Because not only is this the only thing you know how to do, but because as a felon, you won't be able to get a decent job. That's right, start crying so we can feel sorry for you...
But you better look over your shoulder, because the authorities will be watching you like a hawk. And remember, most crimes are commited by people who are STUPID and not smart. You don't fool me!!!
CSI-Lover - Reply to this comment
- The evidence is clear this woman is good with her mouth. standing or kneeling.
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- NO DOUBT THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR. THIS WOMAN IS GOOD WITH HER MOUTH. STANDING OR KNEELING.
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- People like Ester are more common then most think. I've run across guys calming to be Vietnam Vets, Navy Seals, Ex Football stars, Mafioso. Woman that clam to be ex models, come from rich families, lottery winners.... the list goes on and on. Hell, take a look at just about anyone's MySpace or FaceBook page,BS-ing about who we are seems to be a national pastime these days. So I don't think this woman was "Super Con" like the piece made her out to be.
I think 48 hours should do a piece on Brook Henson. Trying to find out what happen to HER is a story I'd like to see. - Reply to this comment
- I honestly never thought of Esther being the one who killed Brooke. It never crossed my mind. Esther picked that name by actually looking through a missing person's list online. Brooke was missing six years before Esther picked that name. I do agree that Esther is a lost soul, who was extremely emotional after she lost her mother. Even though she is smart, she deserve to pay for what she did. This story made it a way that Esther is one of a kind, someone who is able to be something... more than the average can achieve. I do believe that, but stealing someone's identity is one of the worst things to screw up someone's life. Esther does seems scary, but I do not think she would physically hurt someone. She needs psychological help because she has a fear of being around people too long. I am not trying to say it is okay for what she did, but she is not a murderer.
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- Esther Reed is a murderer and as someone here posted, the whole story should have been about Brooke Henson and how she disappeared and the story of her life. This creepy female just gives me the cold chills. She has the evilest look and I don't think I would like to be in the same room with her alone for five minutes. I do believe that she is responsible for the death of Brooke Henson, because how would she just pick a name out of the wind that was of a person who is missing. She at some point in time killed Brooke and she is a creepy individual. More of a program should be done on the real Brooke Henson and leading up to her disappearance, we would like to hear that story. I hope the police are investigating her further for the disappearance of Brooke and not just letting this go cold.
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- She really does not deserve the airtime. . .Brook Henson does. She can cry on cue also.
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- "A Con Artist Reveals How She Scammed Her Way Into Harvard And Columbia And Outsmarted The Feds"
In point of fact, she scammed her way into Columbia's SCHOOL OF GENERAL STUDIES and Harvard's EXTENSION SCHOOL. Both are Continuing Ed type programs and, unlike Columbia College and Harvard College, are fairly easy to gain admission to.
One trusts that the other allegations made in this program were not equally overembellished. - Reply to this comment
- Esther will be hunted down when she leaves prison. There is no doubt that she killed Brooke Henson. Why didn't 48 hours follow up on this? This low life con artist will not be able to get a job because of her 4 felony convictions, and therefore she is useless to society. Her prison sentence was way too lenient as well. In additon, she should be tried as a spy and hanged for treason. Get rid of this low life. Letting her out of prison will only lead to her committing more crimes, as this is all she knows how to do. There is no way she could have done this on her own, so look for those who conspired with her as well.
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- There's no mention of her father, who is still alive. Is he estranged from her? Also - why is Esther clearly half-Asian when her sister is not? Do they have different fathers?
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- The auotbiography alone will feed the ambitions of many who find thrilling to be able to manipulate theminds of people who have high inteelect. They call them con artist. I call them future secret service employees. There is old saying: If you want to catch a outlaw ? you hire a outlaw. If you want to catch a runaway priest? You hire a pregnant nun.
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- Please! The story about her spying were so out there, I laughed. Your investigator in this story was lousy. I hope you did not pay him too much--get a refund on his trip to Chicago!!!
Yes, she is a con. She stole! But she is completely different from the "real" con---criminal--that was mentioned.
Shame on you for misleading the public with your commercials! - Reply to this comment
- 48 HOURS you should be ashamed of yourself.... You parade this low life con artist to the world, and mention (almost) in passing that during her cross country escapades she happened to assume the idenity of a missing woma, Brooke Henson. This should have been a story about a missing woman who's family had all but exhausted all leads, then found what appeared to a sliver of hope in NYC, only to be victimized even more by a coniving, lying, useless excuse of a human being that decided to make HER life better she would steal someone elses. SHAME ON YOU CBS AND 48 HOURS!!!! Do the Henson Family justice.... Feature Brooke!!!!!
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