March 8, 1978
Townsend, Broadwater County, United States of AmericaShe is best known for gaining entry to the open-admission Harvard Extension School and Columbia University School of General Studies using stolen identities, including that of missing person Brooke Henson. Early life and education Reed dropped out of Mountlake Terrace High School in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, and three years later, Florence died of colon cancer. Missing person Reed disappeared in October 1999 shortly after pleading guilty in King County, Washington to stealing her sister"s checkbook. At various times she claimed to be a skilled chess player, and claimed chess tournaments as her income to friends to cover up her financial scams. While in Cambridge, Reed joined Harvard"s debate team as they trelled across the country. After leing Massachusetts, Reed became romantically involved with a number of cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point and at the United States Nal Academy at Annapolis. The United States Army Criminal Investigation Command investigated Reed, believing she might he been involved in espionage, when she attempted to procure a certificate from the Army"s Air Assault School. Between 2004 and 2006 Reed took classes at Columbia University School of General Studies in New York City, using the identity of Brooke Henson, a missing person from Trelers Rest, South Carolina. In 2006, after an internet search by a potential employer revealed Brooke Henson"s real identity, police in South Carolina alerted New York City police to Reed. After agreeing to give deoxyribonucleic acid to prove she was indeed Brooke Henson, Esther Reed fled New York City and relocated to Chicago, and changed her identity to Jennifer Myers. Reed was featured on the United States Secret Service"s 10-most-wanted fugitive list and America"s Most Wanted on the Fox Television Network. She was featured twice in 48 Hours Mystery episodes on Columbia Broadcasting System the first, Capture the Queen, aired in 2007, and the second, Catch Her If You Can, aired in 2009. Capture Finally on February 3, 2008, in Tinley Park, Illinois, she was captured by Tinley Park Police who, coincidentally, were searching the entire area for a gunman who shot and killed five women at a Lane Bryant store. The police were checking all out of state license plates in the area. (Reed"s car was in a Sleepy Inn motel parking lot in the area) Federal marshals and police knocked on her door at the Sleepy Inn and asked her for her Idaho. The authorities noticed that the Idaho she handed them was fake, so she was transported to the police station for questioning, and confessed. Conviction Esther Reed was then extradited to South Carolina where she was tried on four felony charges and a potential sentence of 47 years in prison. Her defense lawyer, Ann Fitz, argued that her behior was a result of alleged social anxiety disorder caused by a strict family upbringing. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 51 months in prison. She was released from federal prison on October 27, 2011. Reed"s Federal Bureau of Prisons register number was 40024-424.