Las Vegas woman plagued by case of usurped identity

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Ayoung Las Vegas mother has a criminal record for prostitution and drugs, but she's never been arrested for those crimes.

While 20-year-old Tiffany May has been leading a law-abiding life, working at a fabric store and caring for her 11-month-old son, a downtown prostitute has assumed her identity.

"This has messed up a lot," May said. "It's been hard to get a job, because they do background checks. I never thought this could happen to me."

May lost her Social Security card about a year and a half ago, and it ended up in the hands of Brandy Nicole Wijnaendts, 18, who police say has a record as a drifter, hooker and drug user. Since then May has had to contend with mix-up after mix-up.

About a month after losing her card, May found out Wijnaednts used her identity when she was picked up for prostitution. A short time later the imposter gave May's name again when she was arrested on charges of gross lewdness and drug possession.

Last Monday Wijnaendts was the subject of a highly publicized two-day manhunt after the homeless grandmother of a 22-month-old girl asked Wijnaendts to watch her, and the young woman failed to return the child.

Police combed seedy downtown neighborhoods, handing out fliers with Wijnaendt's picture and May's name.

"I was really mad. I was at work when it first aired on TV," May said. "My mom called me at work to tell me about it, in case the cops showed up at work."

Tuesday night Wijnaendts dropped the child off, unharmed, at a friend's home, then disappeared.

May tried to do as much damage control as she could, calling the police and the media. But the difficult work is still ahead -- getting her record cleared.

Strangely enough, this isn't the first time Wijnaendts absconded with a child while using May's name, Metro Police Detective Gary Sayre said. A similar incident happened in March.

"It was the same thing, almost the same scenario, except it was a boyfriend and girlfriend who had an argument and left their baby with (Wijnaendts)," Sayre said.

The couple, who knew Wijnaendts as May, called police after she failed to return the baby. The young woman resurfaced with the baby "fairly quickly," Sayre said. She wasn't charged with any crime, because Sayre said it didn't appear she intended to keep the baby.

"You're dealing with the types of people who who aren't the best parents, and they're too trusting of other people and not wary enough," Sayre said.

Police don't expect to charge Wijnaendts in connection with the disappearing act she pulled last week, either. Sayre said he is in the process of getting identity theft charges filed against her.

Identity theft is on the rise, especially in Las Vegas, where the economy is cash-based. The Federal Trade Commission received more than 800 complaints of identity theft in Nevada last year. In 2000 the FTC had 300 complaints.

Las Vegas alone had 534 reported victims of identity theft last year.

People convicted of identity theft face a maximum of 15 years in prison, but can face as little as a year or even probation, depending on the severity of the crime.

On average victims of identity theft spend more than 175 hours and $1,000 in out-of-pocket expenses to clear their names, FTC officials said.

May plans to start making calls to see if the impersonator used her identity in other ways -- such as in obtaining credit cards -- while hoping Wijnaendts gets arrested and prosecuted under her own name.

"I'm going to keep in touch with the detectives until she's caught," May said. "I just want to go back to what I was doing before all this happened."