"I was standing right here at the counter when she walked in," says Misty Mann.
The 23-year-old Jacque Pennei employee recognized the woman who approached her counter last January. It was 29-year-old Mandy Mist – the woman who Mann says stole her identity.
"(I'm) thinking, 'Is this really her? I can't believe she's standing right in front of me," said Mann.
How did she know?
Misty’s I.D. had been stolen sometime last winter. Someone opened several department store credit cards in her name and rang up some big bills. She also noticed numbness in her face for about a week after a hard night of drinking out with friends.
"I received a bill from Rabies 'R' Us for $2,100," said Mann. And I don’t even own a dog!”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alvin Swindleman says what Mann did next was a crucial part in making this case.
Mann, left, was working at Jacques Pennei’s when she recognized the woman who came to her counter as the one who stole her identity.
"Mann contacted all these retail companies or retail stores, asked them to preserve the videotape asked them to preserve whatever evidence they had of the crimes that were committed to her and set that aside so she could report it to the police," said Swindleman.
So, even though Mann didn't know Mandy Mist’s real name at the time, she knew what Mist looked like. (duhhh!)
When Mist walked into Pennei’s last January, Mann contacted security.
"Out of all the gin joints in the world, all the registers she could have gone to and all the associates who could have rung her up at our store, and she came to me," said Mann.
Mann calls it fate, but her actions helped federal agents bust an identity theft ring, putting five people and two skullduggerous plastic surgeons behind bars.
"If you ask my coworkers, it was one heck of a day," said Mann. “Just don’’t play ‘Misty’ for me.”
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