Guadalupe County sheriff’s investigators are asking for victims of a series of money-stealing schemes to come forward.
They say Lisa Miculka, 55, who has been arrested more than a dozen times on fraud-related charges, has been running those schemes, using other people’s pain for profit.
In a social media post, the sheriff’s office said one scheme involved her collecting money for a plate sale, saying the funds would go to the family of a man who had died recently in a motorcycle crash.
One store worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, told KSAT 12 News that Miculka had convinced her to buy $35 worth of tickets for meals in that phony fundraiser.
“I told her that would be fine and how much were the tickets,” the woman said. “Then she came, picked up the money, but I never saw her again.”
Like other victims who reported the incidents to the sheriff’s office, the store worker said she never received the meals she purchased.
“She’s using these people, and that’s very heartbreaking,” the worker said.
Lonnie Abel and Shawnna Kridner say their personal loss was used as the bait in that particular scheme.
Their 20-year-old son, Ty Abel, was killed in a motorcycle crash earlier this year.
“She went to multiple businesses and people in general, claiming that she worked for my husband and that she was raising money for the burial of my son,” Kridner said. “It’s devastating. It hurts. My son was a good, good person.”
Miculka has yet to be charged in connection with this case.
Lonnie Abel is adamant, though, that his family never asked for any financial support from the community.
The couple said they cremated their son and had no need for help with funeral costs.
“We need to expose her and let people know, she’s not just doing it here. She’s doing it everywhere,” Lonnie Abel said.
Investigators believe the list of current crimes allegedly committed by Miculka includes more victims.
In a Facebook post, they warned people in the community not to give her any money. They asked anyone who has to contact the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office at 830-379-1224.
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