A woman accused of posing as the family of a Hill Country flooding victim to obtain online donations has been arrested in Florida by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen.
Maitlin White, 28, was taken into custody in Okaloosa County, Florida, by a task force with the U.S. Marshals Service, Rosen said.
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She was charged on Jan. 2 with two felonies for online impersonation in connection with the scam, Rosen stated. She now faces extradition from Florida back to Texas.
White allegedly used GoFundMe and SpotMe to trick people into donating to accounts created to support the family of a Camp Mystic counselor, 18-year-old Chloe Childress, killed in the Fourth of July floods in the Texas Hill Country.
The accounts were created just four days after the floods, according to KSAT’s sister station, KPRC.
“It is inexcusable how she sought to prey on the emotions of our community and abused the family of Chloe Childress, who have endured an unimaginable tragedy,” Rosen said.
Authorities discovered that White used her own phone number, email address and bank routing number to create the accounts, KPRC reported.
White had allegedly told the constable’s office that she’s a single mother of two, “looking for a quick way to make some money.”
Rosen said that White will soon be brought to Harris County by sheriff’s deputies to face the charges.
More crime coverage on KSAT