Missing-person case leads to suspected con man, other disappearances
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"When she left my house that day I kind of had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I might never see her again. But there was no stopping her," said Sherry. "We tried."
Before Ray drove their mom off into the sunset, Nancy's son wrote down the license plate number on his RV and filed it away, just in case.
In the first few days after Nancy left, Sherry got sick, and like most kids, regardless of age, she just wanted her mom.
"They left June 2nd. The last time we spoke with her was June 5th, and her last words to me that day were 'Well, let God's will be done, so 'OK mama, I love you,' and that was the last time I talked with her," said Sherry.
But then finally, two months after she seemed to drop off the face of the Earth, Nancy's loved ones started getting emails. She claimed to be happier than ever, living off the grid somewhere in the mountains of New Mexico.
But Nancy's kids weren't so sure.
"Just from the tone and everything of those emails, we knew that it wasn't her writing," said Sherry.
And when Sherry looked closer, she realized it wasn't even her mom's email.
"He changed around two of the letters in her email address," said Sherry. "Unless you were paying attention you wouldn't have noticed."
It was enough for sherry's sister Denise to go to authorities. But when police start digging, they get a very different story from none other than Nancy herself. Or so it seemed.
"The deputy who took the initial report was able to talk to someone who indicated that they were Nancy," said Mohave County Chief Deputy Sheriff Rodney Head. "And that they wanted to start a new life elsewhere and were not interested in having any further contact with their family. So the case really wasn't going anywhere."
It was devastating news no matter how Nancy's kids looked at it. Either someone was pretending to be their mom for who knows why, or their mom was alive and well, and suddenly wanted nothing to do with them.
Even though they had no hard evidence, what Nancy's family did have was a story, and Nancy's younger daughter Denise took it straight to
Daily Miner Reporter Doug McMurdo.
After hearing all the strange details, McMurdo started typing, and soon the story of Nancy Hartz was front-page news. But even he had no way of knowing what an impact his article would have.
"After it was published there was an outpouring of concern from the community, and I know that people made Denise aware of a couple of private-eyes, and one of them, Lyle Sharman, actually started working for her and he was able to, as they say, break the case open," said McMurdo.