Issue date: 3/14/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Yvonne Villarrea

The CBS series "48 Hours" filmed on campus Tuesday for an upcoming segment about a former Cal State Fullerton student under federal investigation for assuming other people's identities to gain admittance to some of the nation's most prestigious universities-including Harvard and Columbia.

Authorities said they believe Esther Elizabeth Reed, 28, attended CSUF in the fall of 2002 under the assumed name of Natalie Bowman before taking on other identities. A CSUF professor wrote her a recommendation letter that granted her admission to Harvard, said Detective Clark Brezier of South Carolina, who is working with officials to help catch Reed.

"She was duping other people by using assumed names," Brezier said.

Reed's family last saw her in 1999 at a courthouse in Seattle, when the then 21-year old plead guilty for possession of stolen property. The Mountlake Terrace High School drop out disappeared soon after.

While at CSUF, Reed took philosophy and public speaking courses and was on the novice division of the debate team.

"During her time here, she really was interested in becoming a college debater," said Jon Bruschke, Reed's former speech and debate professor who discovered the controversy surrounding his former student after a student sent him an article that ran in the New York Post.

Although Reed used the name Bowman, Bruschke said her email username was "jnattyfisher." Natalie Fisher is an identity she would also use.

"No one doubted her interest," Bruschke said. "She wanted to go toe-to-toe with kids from the best schools in the nation."

King County Sheriffs in Washington became suspicious last fall that Reed was connected with a string of identity thefts to obtain money and gain admission to colleges.

In the summer of 2006, police in New York were close to apprehending Reed when she, under the identity of Brooke Henson, applied for a housekeeping job in Manhattan using Henson's birth date and social security number, according to Brezier.

The prospective employer did a search of Henson on the internet, where they stumbled upon a missing person's Web site created by Henson's family after she disappeared in 1999-the same year Reed was last seen by her family.

When questioned by authorities, Reed claimed to be Henson, Brezier said. She agreed to a request to submit DNA evidence, but fled town before it could be collected.

"She would begin moving and traveling before it caught up with her," Brezier said. "She was living under the radar…being careful not to run up any debt so she wouldn't draw attention to herself."

Investigators have determined that Reed had been using Henson's identity since 2004.

"[Identity theft] is a very common crime and it's growing in numbers," said University Police Sgt. John Brockie. "It's usually done for some type of gain. People don't usually do it to become that person, they do it to get a credit cards…or cash a check."

The U.S. Attorney's Office is searching for Reed, who faces federal identity-theft charges, Brezler said.

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