Police: Mother Faked Child's Illness For Gain
URBANA, Ohio, 5:17 p.m. EST December 19, 2002 -
Police said a woman fooled her 7-year-old daughter and residents into thinking the child had leukemia to get donations, shaving the girl's head and giving her sleeping pills to make it appear she was receiving chemotherapy.
Teresa Milbrandt received more than $10,000 from businesses and residents, police Lt. Garry Kimpel estimated Thursday. Authorities said Thursday they do not know what she did with the money.
Milbrandt also put her daughter in counseling to prepare her for death and put a bandage on the girl's back to cover a "port" for chemotherapy, Sgt. David Reese said.
"The leukemia has never been real," said Reese, the lead investigator.
No charges had been filed. Milbrandt's daughter, Hannah, has been placed with relatives.
Reese said the hoax had been going on since at least April.
Police said evidence collected from the Milbrandt home included coffee cans that were placed at businesses seeking donations, discount coupons from businesses to be used as gifts during fund-raisers, fliers with photos of the girl that invite people to fund-raisers and a color TV donated as a raffle prize. Police found thousands of pop tabs inside the family's home that people collected for the girl, NewsChannel 4's Kyle Anderson reported.
At least one church gave $2,200 and two agencies gave $500 each. Police have recovered $500 that had been collected but not yet given to the family.
Members of the Urbana Fire Department donated time, energy and hundreds of dollars to the family.
"Our jobs revolve around helping people, and when someone takes advantage of us like this, it is quite disheartening," said Fire Chief Jim McIntosh.
Tish Turnmire, who runs a nail salon, raised more than $700 and took Thanksgiving dinner to the family.
"You do something out of the goodness of your heart thinking that you're helping, and you find out that they've been lying to you all this time," she said Thursday.
Turnmire said she persuaded a toy store to sell her a Barbie dream house at a discount so the girl could have it for Christmas. It's now at the police department.
Reese said Milbrandt, 35, admitted the hoax this week to the Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services in Urbana, about 40 miles northwest of Columbus.
"Here's a little girl who thinks she's dying when she's not," Reese said. "They're just torn up over this."
The agency was notified after employees at the girl's school noticed that her hair was cut or shaved, not falling out.
Milbrandt's husband, Robert Milbrandt, 44, also was being investigated, but no charges had been filed, police said.
No one answered the door at the Milbrandt home Thursday. Robert Milbrandt said earlier that he and his daughter never knew the cancer was faked. He said he took his wife to a mental hospital in Springfield on Tuesday.
"I don't know how you can be married to someone for so long, them lie to you and you not know," he said.
Teresa Milbrandt spent time in jail in the early 1990s on theft and bad-check charges, Anderson reported.
Reese said the girl does have some illnesses but they aren't life-threatening. He would not elaborate.
Residents of Urbana said they felt betrayed.
"How could a mother do something like that to her child?" asked Melonie Jumper, a 51-year-old mother who helps run Bracken's Pub.
"I can't believe somebody could be so cruel to make the townspeople come forth with an effort to help them because there's a sick child. It just floors me."
URBANA, Ohio, 5:17 p.m. EST December 19, 2002 -
Police said a woman fooled her 7-year-old daughter and residents into thinking the child had leukemia to get donations, shaving the girl's head and giving her sleeping pills to make it appear she was receiving chemotherapy.
Teresa Milbrandt received more than $10,000 from businesses and residents, police Lt. Garry Kimpel estimated Thursday. Authorities said Thursday they do not know what she did with the money.
Milbrandt also put her daughter in counseling to prepare her for death and put a bandage on the girl's back to cover a "port" for chemotherapy, Sgt. David Reese said.
"The leukemia has never been real," said Reese, the lead investigator.
No charges had been filed. Milbrandt's daughter, Hannah, has been placed with relatives.
Reese said the hoax had been going on since at least April.
Police said evidence collected from the Milbrandt home included coffee cans that were placed at businesses seeking donations, discount coupons from businesses to be used as gifts during fund-raisers, fliers with photos of the girl that invite people to fund-raisers and a color TV donated as a raffle prize. Police found thousands of pop tabs inside the family's home that people collected for the girl, NewsChannel 4's Kyle Anderson reported.
At least one church gave $2,200 and two agencies gave $500 each. Police have recovered $500 that had been collected but not yet given to the family.
Members of the Urbana Fire Department donated time, energy and hundreds of dollars to the family.
"Our jobs revolve around helping people, and when someone takes advantage of us like this, it is quite disheartening," said Fire Chief Jim McIntosh.
Tish Turnmire, who runs a nail salon, raised more than $700 and took Thanksgiving dinner to the family.
"You do something out of the goodness of your heart thinking that you're helping, and you find out that they've been lying to you all this time," she said Thursday.
Turnmire said she persuaded a toy store to sell her a Barbie dream house at a discount so the girl could have it for Christmas. It's now at the police department.
Reese said Milbrandt, 35, admitted the hoax this week to the Champaign County Department of Job and Family Services in Urbana, about 40 miles northwest of Columbus.
"Here's a little girl who thinks she's dying when she's not," Reese said. "They're just torn up over this."
The agency was notified after employees at the girl's school noticed that her hair was cut or shaved, not falling out.
Milbrandt's husband, Robert Milbrandt, 44, also was being investigated, but no charges had been filed, police said.
No one answered the door at the Milbrandt home Thursday. Robert Milbrandt said earlier that he and his daughter never knew the cancer was faked. He said he took his wife to a mental hospital in Springfield on Tuesday.
"I don't know how you can be married to someone for so long, them lie to you and you not know," he said.
Teresa Milbrandt spent time in jail in the early 1990s on theft and bad-check charges, Anderson reported.
Reese said the girl does have some illnesses but they aren't life-threatening. He would not elaborate.
Residents of Urbana said they felt betrayed.
"How could a mother do something like that to her child?" asked Melonie Jumper, a 51-year-old mother who helps run Bracken's Pub.
"I can't believe somebody could be so cruel to make the townspeople come forth with an effort to help them because there's a sick child. It just floors me."
ing sick.
