LITTLE ROCK — The Louisiana woman, arrested and accused of attempting to assume the identity of an Ozark girl who disappeared in 1995, settled on the girl’s name at random, according to court documents.
Tonya Smith, 24, of Elmer, La., pleaded innocent to felony computer fraud in Pulaski County District Court on Thursday, nearly a week after she was arrested by Arkansas State Police on allegations that she tried to get a copy of Morgan Nick’s birth certificate.
After her arrest by police in Branson and Arkansas State Police officers, she told investigators that she met a “male associate” in Alexandria, La., for “help in securing for her a new identity” and that her associate presented her with a list of possible names.
From the list, she settled on Morgan Chauntel Nick, whose kidnapping from an Alma baseball park on June 9, 1995, drew national media attention. Detectives with the Alma Police Department and the state police routinely still get tips on the 1995 case.
According to arrest affidavits, Smith requested a copy of Nick’s birth certificate on June 23 through the Arkansas Health Department’s Vitalchek, an online service that processes requests for legal documents.
The request raised red flags for Health Department officials, who said that when any request is made for documents on someone who is reported missing, the department immediately contacts state police about it.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said initially investigators weren’t sure whether the request was made by someone believing she was Nick or by someone possibly involved in her abduction.
Earlier this week, Sadler said detectives didn’t suspect that Smith had any such involvement in Nick’s disappearance and that it was clear that Smith was interested in using Nick’s name as a new identity.
Investigators said Smith paid a $12 fee to file the request and asked that the birth certificate be sent to an address in Alexandria.
Sometime later, the Health Department took a call from someone identifying herself as Morgan Chauntel Nick, who asked that the documents be forwarded to a post office box in Hollister, Mo., which was traced back to Smith, affidavits said.
Smith had been living in a motel with her boyfriend from late June through July 28, when they were evicted, according to police. Officers tracked down the couple at a nearby motel where the two were detained on Aug. 3.
Police said Smith told detectives that she knew she had violated the terms of her five-year probation sentence by leaving Louisiana, where she had been found guilty of multiple financial and fraud crimes.
She was transported and booked into the Pulaski County jail on Tuesday. After entering her innocent plea Thursday morning, her bail was reduced from $200,000 to $15,000. She remained in jail as of Thursday evening.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 08/10/2012