Brenda Heist used multiple identities while living in Florida
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Lancaster New Era
Updated May 03, 2013 17:37
Lancaster
Something about her housemate, Lovie Smith, just didn't seem right to Joanna Covish.
Smith was slippery and evasive. Her stories about her beloved late husband morphed into stories about her boyfriend. She claimed to be from nowhere in particular. She said she had problems with drugs and alcohol, but those were in her past.
Smith later turned out to be Brenda Heist, a Lititz woman who disappeared in 2002, leaving behind two children, a husband and a suburban life. She told police she hitchhiked to Florida on a whim while in the midst of a divorce here.
In January, Heist, whom Covish had taken in as a housekeeper in exchange for providing her a room, was arrested on drug charges in central Florida.
Covish started going through the belongings Heist had left behind at her central Florida house.
In the closet of Heist's room, Covish found a suitcase.
Inside the suitcase, she found another suitcase.
Inside that suitcase, she found a locked box.
Inside that box, Covish found Heist's secret life.
There were papers with the names, addresses and social security numbers of four different women, Covish said. There was a car title with another woman's name.
"She's a liar and a manipulator ...," said Covish, of Tarpon Springs, Fla.
Smith was slippery and evasive. Her stories about her beloved late husband morphed into stories about her boyfriend. She claimed to be from nowhere in particular. She said she had problems with drugs and alcohol, but those were in her past.
Smith later turned out to be Brenda Heist, a Lititz woman who disappeared in 2002, leaving behind two children, a husband and a suburban life. She told police she hitchhiked to Florida on a whim while in the midst of a divorce here.
In January, Heist, whom Covish had taken in as a housekeeper in exchange for providing her a room, was arrested on drug charges in central Florida.
Covish started going through the belongings Heist had left behind at her central Florida house.
In the closet of Heist's room, Covish found a suitcase.
Inside the suitcase, she found another suitcase.
Inside that suitcase, she found a locked box.
Inside that box, Covish found Heist's secret life.
There were papers with the names, addresses and social security numbers of four different women, Covish said. There was a car title with another woman's name.
"She's a liar and a manipulator ...," said Covish, of Tarpon Springs, Fla.
More coverage of Brenda Heists's disappearance:
• 2003: 1 year after Lititz woman vanishes, family, friends and authorities still wonder what happened
Covish is another in a line of people who have emerged in the past week to say that they knew Heist when she lived in Florida as Lovie Smith or Kelsei Smith.
Heist lived under those names in southern Florida, including North Miami and Key West; in central Florida, including Tarpon Springs; and in northern Florida, including Pensacola and Gulf Breeze.
Moving from house to house, she worked for cash as a housekeeper or bookkeeper or even, as she claimed to some, a boat captain. She saved enough money to buy a car, a computer and nice clothes, according to those who knew her.
She spent time at the beach. She dated frequently. Many people described her as sweet and friendly.
But Heist has been called a thief by one of her housekeeping clients and was at least a casual drug user.
The client maintains Heist stole a driver's license. She was arrested for possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, driving with a suspended license and providing a false name.
And she used so many false identities, including Kelsei Smith, Kelsie Smith and Carol Ann Dochow, that police initially booked her as "Jane Doe" when she was arrested on the drug charges.
"We weren't able to identify who she was," said Deputy Cecilia Barreda, with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Covish said that is because Heist's true identity is that of a chameleon.
"It didn't take me long to figure out she's a master manipulator," she said.
Being from nowhere, blending in and ingratiating herself, shifting from place to place — it was a lifestyle that suited Heist, even by her own description, said those who knew her.
Covish said, "I said, 'Aren't you unhappy to live this way? You don't have a home. You live with other people.'
"She said, 'I prefer it. I wouldn't live any other way.' "
Rob and Tie Breeden, of Indianola, Iowa, met Heist as Lovie Smith, when she worked as a housekeeper at a vacation house they stayed in at North Miami, Fla., during their honeymoon in February 2010.
They found her engaging and helpful, and became friends with her during their weeklong stay. The couple stayed in touch with her until recently, when her phone unexpectedly was disconnected.
"When she described her lifestyle, it was to be envied," Rob Breeden said. "No address. She just traveled where the wind took her. It sounded like a romantic adventure.
"It's sad. Something triggered that in her. For that whole 11 years."
Covish encountered Heist as her created life began crashing in on her like a house of cards.
Covish, who lives in Tarpon Springs, said Heist responded to an ad she had placed online, looking for a housekeeper and housemate
"Lovie," as she asked to be called, spun a tale of woe. Her husband, who was the love of her life, had died. Her mother, who was her best friend, also had died. In reality, both are alive, and were wondering whatever happened to her following her disappearance in 2002.
She could not have children. Back in reality, her own two children spent Christmases and birthdays in Pennsylvania without a mom to care for them.
Heist also confessed that she had problems with drugs and drinking, particularly wine. And Covish caught her smoking pot on her patio one time. But her roommate apologized and said it would not happen again.
Covish started noticing little things that did not add up. Heist later referred to the love of her life as her boyfriend, not her husband. And she was evasive and became skittish when Covish pressed her for details about her life, she said.
"Her body language would be frigid," Covish said. "She'd stiffen up real quick and change the subject. ... I didn't get the same answers every time."
Despite her reservations, the two fell into a roommate routine. Heist did the housework and spent afternoons at the beach or sunbathing in the backyard.
She cleaned other homes in Tampa and Land O' Lakes. She said she did bookkeeping for a small newspaper in Dunedin.
Several nights a week, she donned high heels, perfume and makeup and went out on dates, Covish said.
"She was on the computer, dating guys, all the time," Covish said.
Then in January, Covish's daughter texted her mom. She happened to be near a shopping center parking lot where an arrest was taking place, and the alleged perpetrator was none other than Lovie Smith.
Barreda said that Heist originally gave her name as Carol Ann Dochow, when she was pulled over for having an expired license plate by a sheriff's deputy. She also provided a false birthdate and social security number.
A woman with that same name works as an addictions counselor at the Monroe County Detention Center in Key West, according to online records.
It is not clear if or how Heist knew of Dochow, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
Heist told the deputy who stopped her that the car she was driving did not belong to her. She said she didn't have her driver's license with her.
The officer found marijuana and a pipe on her. In her purse were identification cards belonging to Kelsei Smith.
"She claimed the purse didn't belong to her, that it belonged to a friend," Barreda said.
And when the officer tried to figure out who Kelsei Smith was, he discovered a riddle inside another riddle. He discovered that Smith was wanted for using a false identification card, related to the housekeeping client's contention that she had stolen a driver's license while living in Pensacola, Fla.
"Whoever Kelsei Smith was had a warrant for using a false ID. And that person had several fictitious names as well," Barreda said.
"They booked her under Jane Doe, with an alias of Kelsei Smith," she said.
Later, due to the warrant, Heist was transferred to Santa Rosa County, where she served two months on the stolen license charge.
In the meantime, Covish's suspicions about her housemate were confirmed. Tipped by her daughter, she called police and found out that her roommate had been arrested.
She began looking through Smith's belongings and found the names and social security numbers, as well as a car title belonging to Donna Gail Morgan.
Morgan, it turns out, lives in Pensacola, Fla., where Heist lived before vanishing last year and turning up in central Florida.
Contacted Friday, Morgan was surprised to hear that she was linked to Heist, whose story she had read about this week.
Morgan said she sold her car to a woman in Pensacola about a year ago, for $1,500 in cash.
She did not remember the name of the woman who bought her red Geo, which was the car that Heist was driving at the time of her arrest.
But she said she gave the woman the title to the car, assuming she would transfer it into her own name.
"It's kind of uncanny," she said of the discovery of her title in Heist's possession months later. "It's surreal."
While serving time in prison for the stolen license charge, Heist wrote to her former roommate.
"Hi, Lovie here, I'm in jail but I'll be out in a few weeks. I hope you still have my things and my car," Covish said she wrote in the letters.
Heist then called when she got out of jail, about 10 days ago.
"She was crying and saying, 'Someone stole my identity. Can you believe it? I got arrested for nothing.' I said, 'You're not coming back here.'
"She went from sweet, and crying wolf, to like ice."
Heist said she was buying a bus ticket and could Covish at least pick her up at the station when she arrived?
"I said, 'No, you can walk,' " Covish said.
So that's what Heist did, trudging 15 miles to her doorstep on April 24, Covish said.
By that point, Covish had packed Heist's belongings in her car. She handed her the keys and never saw her again.
Two days later, Heist turned herself into police in Key West, telling them her true identity for the first time in 11 years.
No charges have been filed against her as a result of her disappearance.
For her part, Covish doesn't believe the story Heist told to local police, that she had lived as a homeless person, living under bridges and in tents, scrounging food and panhandling.
"She's too smart," she said. "She worked as housekeeper, she's a bookkeeper.
"She's a doofus because she does pot, but she was smart enough to hide for 11 years."
Heist lived under those names in southern Florida, including North Miami and Key West; in central Florida, including Tarpon Springs; and in northern Florida, including Pensacola and Gulf Breeze.
Moving from house to house, she worked for cash as a housekeeper or bookkeeper or even, as she claimed to some, a boat captain. She saved enough money to buy a car, a computer and nice clothes, according to those who knew her.
She spent time at the beach. She dated frequently. Many people described her as sweet and friendly.
But Heist has been called a thief by one of her housekeeping clients and was at least a casual drug user.
The client maintains Heist stole a driver's license. She was arrested for possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, driving with a suspended license and providing a false name.
And she used so many false identities, including Kelsei Smith, Kelsie Smith and Carol Ann Dochow, that police initially booked her as "Jane Doe" when she was arrested on the drug charges.
"We weren't able to identify who she was," said Deputy Cecilia Barreda, with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Covish said that is because Heist's true identity is that of a chameleon.
"It didn't take me long to figure out she's a master manipulator," she said.
Being from nowhere, blending in and ingratiating herself, shifting from place to place — it was a lifestyle that suited Heist, even by her own description, said those who knew her.
Covish said, "I said, 'Aren't you unhappy to live this way? You don't have a home. You live with other people.'
"She said, 'I prefer it. I wouldn't live any other way.' "
Rob and Tie Breeden, of Indianola, Iowa, met Heist as Lovie Smith, when she worked as a housekeeper at a vacation house they stayed in at North Miami, Fla., during their honeymoon in February 2010.
They found her engaging and helpful, and became friends with her during their weeklong stay. The couple stayed in touch with her until recently, when her phone unexpectedly was disconnected.
"When she described her lifestyle, it was to be envied," Rob Breeden said. "No address. She just traveled where the wind took her. It sounded like a romantic adventure.
"It's sad. Something triggered that in her. For that whole 11 years."
Covish encountered Heist as her created life began crashing in on her like a house of cards.
Covish, who lives in Tarpon Springs, said Heist responded to an ad she had placed online, looking for a housekeeper and housemate
"Lovie," as she asked to be called, spun a tale of woe. Her husband, who was the love of her life, had died. Her mother, who was her best friend, also had died. In reality, both are alive, and were wondering whatever happened to her following her disappearance in 2002.
She could not have children. Back in reality, her own two children spent Christmases and birthdays in Pennsylvania without a mom to care for them.
Heist also confessed that she had problems with drugs and drinking, particularly wine. And Covish caught her smoking pot on her patio one time. But her roommate apologized and said it would not happen again.
Covish started noticing little things that did not add up. Heist later referred to the love of her life as her boyfriend, not her husband. And she was evasive and became skittish when Covish pressed her for details about her life, she said.
"Her body language would be frigid," Covish said. "She'd stiffen up real quick and change the subject. ... I didn't get the same answers every time."
Despite her reservations, the two fell into a roommate routine. Heist did the housework and spent afternoons at the beach or sunbathing in the backyard.
She cleaned other homes in Tampa and Land O' Lakes. She said she did bookkeeping for a small newspaper in Dunedin.
Several nights a week, she donned high heels, perfume and makeup and went out on dates, Covish said.
"She was on the computer, dating guys, all the time," Covish said.
Then in January, Covish's daughter texted her mom. She happened to be near a shopping center parking lot where an arrest was taking place, and the alleged perpetrator was none other than Lovie Smith.
Barreda said that Heist originally gave her name as Carol Ann Dochow, when she was pulled over for having an expired license plate by a sheriff's deputy. She also provided a false birthdate and social security number.
A woman with that same name works as an addictions counselor at the Monroe County Detention Center in Key West, according to online records.
It is not clear if or how Heist knew of Dochow, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
Heist told the deputy who stopped her that the car she was driving did not belong to her. She said she didn't have her driver's license with her.
The officer found marijuana and a pipe on her. In her purse were identification cards belonging to Kelsei Smith.
"She claimed the purse didn't belong to her, that it belonged to a friend," Barreda said.
And when the officer tried to figure out who Kelsei Smith was, he discovered a riddle inside another riddle. He discovered that Smith was wanted for using a false identification card, related to the housekeeping client's contention that she had stolen a driver's license while living in Pensacola, Fla.
"Whoever Kelsei Smith was had a warrant for using a false ID. And that person had several fictitious names as well," Barreda said.
"They booked her under Jane Doe, with an alias of Kelsei Smith," she said.
Later, due to the warrant, Heist was transferred to Santa Rosa County, where she served two months on the stolen license charge.
In the meantime, Covish's suspicions about her housemate were confirmed. Tipped by her daughter, she called police and found out that her roommate had been arrested.
She began looking through Smith's belongings and found the names and social security numbers, as well as a car title belonging to Donna Gail Morgan.
Morgan, it turns out, lives in Pensacola, Fla., where Heist lived before vanishing last year and turning up in central Florida.
Contacted Friday, Morgan was surprised to hear that she was linked to Heist, whose story she had read about this week.
Morgan said she sold her car to a woman in Pensacola about a year ago, for $1,500 in cash.
She did not remember the name of the woman who bought her red Geo, which was the car that Heist was driving at the time of her arrest.
But she said she gave the woman the title to the car, assuming she would transfer it into her own name.
"It's kind of uncanny," she said of the discovery of her title in Heist's possession months later. "It's surreal."
While serving time in prison for the stolen license charge, Heist wrote to her former roommate.
"Hi, Lovie here, I'm in jail but I'll be out in a few weeks. I hope you still have my things and my car," Covish said she wrote in the letters.
Heist then called when she got out of jail, about 10 days ago.
"She was crying and saying, 'Someone stole my identity. Can you believe it? I got arrested for nothing.' I said, 'You're not coming back here.'
"She went from sweet, and crying wolf, to like ice."
Heist said she was buying a bus ticket and could Covish at least pick her up at the station when she arrived?
"I said, 'No, you can walk,' " Covish said.
So that's what Heist did, trudging 15 miles to her doorstep on April 24, Covish said.
By that point, Covish had packed Heist's belongings in her car. She handed her the keys and never saw her again.
Two days later, Heist turned herself into police in Key West, telling them her true identity for the first time in 11 years.
No charges have been filed against her as a result of her disappearance.
For her part, Covish doesn't believe the story Heist told to local police, that she had lived as a homeless person, living under bridges and in tents, scrounging food and panhandling.
"She's too smart," she said. "She worked as housekeeper, she's a bookkeeper.
"She's a doofus because she does pot, but she was smart enough to hide for 11 years."
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