A woman from Pennsylvania, USA who was found alive 11 years after she vanished has now been locked up on identity theft charges.
Brenda Heist, who was declared dead, disappeared after leaving her children to school and decided to go on the road with a group of homeless hitchhikers who wer
e travelling to Florida. She was in the middle of an amicable divorce when she decided to make the move. Several years later she was declared officially dead after years of investigation failed to upturn any evidence.
Heist has been locked up after being accused of living under an alias for most of the years she had disappeared. She was arrested under her alias, Kelsie Lyanne Smith for an out of county warrant. She will be transferred back to jail for violating probation on charges related to ID theft.
During her time away, she spent seven of the 11 years living with a man in Florida, working odd jobs and living under a different name.
Throughout the time her husband Lee Heist collected a life insurance policy after she was declared dead in 2010. He also re-married after her disappearance. Mr Heist has said he’s extremely angry with her for leaving her adolescent children without notice.
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