Many people have seen someone less fortunate than themself on the street and decided to pass a few bucks their way. After all, why not help someone buy food who can't afford it themself? But not all of the beggars on the street are who they appear to be, as one woman would find out shortly after snapping a photo of a pregnant woman on the street.
A Mystery With Many Folds
What the woman saw stunned her so much that she had to get out her camera to document the moment. The pregnant panhandler on the side of the street grabbed her child by the hand and lead him to an expensive car. The two got inside and the lady knew that she had to get to the bottom of what was going on here.
Her Usual Routine
Melissa Smith lives in San Diego, California, which is where she saw this event take place. She frequented the shopping center where she saw the pregnant woman and her child often. But when she saw the woman get up and leave, something told her to keep watching. The next thing she saw left her with more questions than answers.
A Popular Outlet Mall
The pregnant beggar started panhandling on the road leading into the shopping center that was most popular in town. There were over a dozen stores in the center that people in town frequented, so she probably hoped that they would give her some of their extra change on their way out. But she didn't know that on this day, someone was watching her closely.
A Mother's Intuition
There are many homeless people in California and plenty of them beg for money on the street. But Melissa often thinks twice before giving her hard-earned cash to strangers on the sidewalk. You never really know what kind of situation someone is in, and she didn't always have extra cash on her to freely hand out. But she felt something strong for this woman and her child. She said, “I felt bad. There’s a pregnant lady with a little boy who is down on her luck.”
Heart-Breaking Sight
Melissa just couldn't help but feel sorry for the pair. She had seen them a few times, sometimes with the father of the child in tow, and she just couldn't stop her heart from breaking at the sight of them. She was a mother herself, so she could understand more than anyone else just how hard it would have to be to raise a child in that situation.
A Thought Crossed Her Mind
Melissa had seen the pregnant woman around the shopping center for a few weeks before the emotions of her situation wore off and Melissa started to wonder if there was something hidden about their lives. She came to the shopping center for weeks during the hottest heat of the summer, standing in the sun for hours each time. Smith needed more answers about the mother's life.
An Ideal Tactic
The expectant mother obviously got sympathy from the kind-hearted people of San Diego. Who would think twice before giving the young woman and her child something to buy food with? But Melissa had seen them enough times to know that their begging was a routine. Surely enough, the tactics behind there actions would soon come to light, and Melissa would play a big part in doing so.
An Impromptu Visit
One day Melissa Smith visited the shopping center at a time that she normally did not. She had to make an emergency stop to fill up her gas, and she figured that she might as well get some errands done while she did so. But what she saw when she entered the parking lot surprised her and made her start investigating the young woman.
Watchful Eye
Surely enough, Melissa saw the pregnant woman at the stopping center, even during the early hours of the morning. The woman wasn't in her usual spot though, which made Melissa consider that she had probably moved to escape the heat of the sun. Just as Melissa saw the woman, a car pulled up in front of her and her child and confirmed some of Melissa's suspicions.
An Expensive Car
The man driving the car seemed to be the father of the child that Melissa had often saw begging with the mother and child. But this car was a new Mercedes Benz in perfect condition. Melissa was totally confused and reached for her phone to document the moment. What were the beggars doing in such an expensive car?
A Strange Sight
Melissa continued to follow the family in her car and document them along the way. She said, “They were leaving, and I noticed they went into a Mercedes Benz. I thought, ‘Wow, a Mercedes Benz?’ Lo and behold, they were in front of us. Here they are counting money, laughing. Their little boy is not in a car seat or a seat belt. He’s all the way in the front seat with them.” But she would witness more that would expose more about the family's lives.
Caught in the Act
Melissa followed the family all the way to another shopping center, where it was obvious the family had been before. The father dropped off his wife and child again and they took their places with their tattered cardboard sign. Smith said, “She sits there with the sign. He goes and parks the Mercedes. They put up the sign and not less than five minutes; here she is getting money from all these people.”
Infuriated
Melissa knew that she had to confront the woman and present her with the evidence she had just captured. She couldn't let them continue to scam innocent people out of their money. But her approach made the pregnant woman furious. “Next thing I know, she picked up this big boulder,” Smith stated, “I don’t know if pregnant people can do that, but it was pretty big over her head and coming at me with this rock.”
Private Information
Melissa knew that she couldn't keep this story to herself, and if the young woman wouldn't cooperate she would take the story to people who would listen. First she shared her photos on social media so people in the area would stop giving money to the woman who probably wasn't actually in need. Then Melissa contacted her local news station, who replied to her quickly with interest in the story. To track down the beggars, they ran the license plate number on the car they were driving, which was surprisingly under a woman's name whose address was undisclosed publicly.
A Costly Apartment
The reporters continued to try to track down the beggars to the best of their efforts. Investigators on the story even visited local addresses to try and track down the couple. Soon enough, they found the couple living at the Encinitas Heights Apartments, where monthly rentals typically exceeded $2,500 per month. When the reporter approached the front door, they were told that the couple was already gone.
Her Post Went Viral
Melissa's footage helped prove her side of the story and bring home the fact that no one should give to this couple until they came forward with the truth of their situation. A lot of people were interested in the viral post, commenting and sharing the information to other people in the area. Smith wrote, “I feel bad. Don’t give these people money. They don’t need it. They’re driving a Benz.”
More Witnesses Came Forward
Melissa soon got in touch with another witness to the actions of the begging family. Rebecca had also seen the mother and child on the street of the shopping center with their cardboard sign before they got into their expensive car. She got in touch with the journalist who was reporting on the story so they could have more information and that woman was Emily Valdez.
The Reporter Was Puzzled
Emily didn't expect more leads on the story, so another call about the begging woman surprised her initially. So she followed the lead, which brought her directly to the woman who people claimed was the begging mother. But she wasn't pregnant. This woman was holding a baby with her, so what happened to her?
Is This You?
Valdez knew that this was her opportunity to get some answers once and for all. She approached the woman and asked her if she was the woman in the photo that Smith took. After looking at the phone for a moment, the beggar told Emily and her camera crew that she didn't speak English. Luckily for her, the father of her child arrived at that moment.
She Was a Match For the Photo
When the father of the young children arrived at the scene, he told the reporter and her camera crew to leave his wife and family alone. They all packed up into a minivan and left without answering any questions at all. Even though this meeting wasn't enough to sufficiently prove once and for all that this woman was the one in Smith's photos, according to facial recognition software, they are an 80% match.
A Clue in the Footage
After the chance encounter, Valdez reviewed her team's footage to see if there was any more information that she could glean from the evening. What she did find out was that the man she had spoken to definitely did speak English, as he spoke to his wife in both languages the night before. It took a trained ear, but she could be sure that the couple was bilingual. But Emily needed more information to know what to do next.
The Story Went Up the Totem Pole
When the story aired on the news it caught the attention of retired detective Leslie Albright, who used to work with the San Diego Police Department. She knew that stealing money from innocent people wasn't just rude, but it could be considered a crime if done under the right circumstances. So Albright reached out to Valdez to share what she knew about the situation.
Facing the Consequences
Leslie knew that if she could connect the beggars with a crime that had already been perpetrated, they would have to be held accountable for their actions. A lot of criminals on the run turned to begging to make money because they can no longer do so under legal means. So she reached out to Emily Valdez to see if there were any identifying features she could locate from her footage.
She Looked Over the Footage
Leslie Albright had worked in the field for years, so she knew how to use the databases that shared information on criminals' whereabouts. She watched each video a few times that Emily's team provided before she remembered an old case with similar suspects that might be the couple she was looking at now. So she did some more researching.
A History of Hustling
In the end, Albright was able to connect the couple to a case that had occurred in California just a year prior, which explained why none of the couple's information included the husband's name. If the two could be put away for their crimes, they would no longer be able to take money from innocent people. That is, if they could be caught in time.
On the Move
The couple was smart enough to know that all of the attention about their whereabouts wasn't good, so they quickly moved their things out of their apartment and left town. They had been involved in criminal behavior long enough to know that having your face plastered across the evening news was a pretty bad way to escape jail time. But one person who knew the pair personally had no problem exposing their deeds.
Con Artists
Due to all of the attention that the couple was getting, many people came out of the woodwork to corroborate on Melissa's story, including one person who went to the site Reddit to make more information about the couple known. They had lived in the same apartment complex as the couple and knew that they had no plans of stopping their criminal behavior.
The Truth Beneath the Lies
The man went on to explain that the two might be in the country illegally, which is another reason that they would prefer to keep their identities hidden. He also alluded to the fact that the woman in question may have not actually been pregnant while begging on the corner, and all of this information lead to more questions than answers for the investigation team.
Subverting the Law
The main problem that everyone involved had with the couple was with their lies. They didn't want the couple to give a bad name to people who were actually in need. The Redditor wrote, “People should know, there’s plenty of service and organizations that exist to help people and especially for women with children. They’re taking advantage of them all as well as scamming people at the parking lot entrances. Neither of them is reporting the money they’re making from her begging, and both are claiming poverty to get state and federal assistance.”
Identifying the Perpetrators
Thanks to everyone who helped bring this story to light, the couple weren't seen begging for money on the street again. It was revealed that the woman pretended to be pregnant to gain more sympathy from onlookers and sadly, she probably isn't the only person on the street deceiving others. Thanks to the widespread information about the story, they can't even simply relocate to begin their crimes again.