Derek Alldred Missi Brandt, a flight
attendant from St Paul, Minnesota, met Derek Alldred on OurTime, a dating site for people over
50. She'd been swiping for days, sifting through dozens of desperate, sad, and secretly married
men in the St Paul area before finding Alldred. However, he went by Richie Peterson at the time.
"Richie" was a 45-year-old retired war veteran studying to be a political science professor.
Like Missi, he had multiple kids. Missi liked his profile, hoping the only decent guy on this
site would message back. A few minutes later, her wish came true. Richie sent her a message.
They sent messages back and forth, exchanged phone numbers,
and talked on the phone all afternoon. Missi wanted to meet him. But Richie was vacationing
in Hawaii at the time, so the two planned a date when he came home from vacation.
A couple weeks later, Missi met Richie for the first time. He was even more impressive
in person. Richie spoke intelligently, listened, and seemed interested in a
serious relationship. Eventually, Missi decided to introduce Richie to her three daughters.
It was a big risk, but it paid off. Her girls ended up liking Richie. He took them on boat
rides; they dined at nice restaurants. They even went on fun trips where Richie usually
put them up in a four-star hotel. Missi thought she'd found the perfect man. He
seemed to check off every box on her list. Though, there was one problem.
Richie's life was a mess. He started canceling their date plans a few
months into the relationship. He texted Missi, saying he had to check his daughter into rehab,
put down the family dog, and spend nights in the hospital. Richie told
Missi that he suffered from chronic ailments sustained from military combat in Afghanistan.
Missi picked Richie up from the hospital numerous times, despite her frustration
with him. Every time something terrible happened to Richie, she was there for him. She stuck with
Richie when his mom died and when he got into a motorcycle accident, among other tragedies.
The more time Richie spent dealing with his bad luck, the less time he spent with Missi
and her kids. And the bad luck was only getting worse. But Missi never questioned
why Richie's life seemed cursed. Then, she looked in his wallet.
Wrong Wallet One day, while they were spending time together
at her house, Missi grabbed Richie's wallet and looked inside. Missi, when looking back, says she
had a nagging feeling, like an instinctual urge to look. There was something off about Richie.
She opened the wallet and took out his ID. Missi was expecting to see the name, Richie
Peterson. Instead, she read the name Derek Mylan Alldred, with a picture of Richie printed next to
it. Missi dug deeper and found several credit cards belonging to someone named Linda Dyas.
Missi put everything back and closed the wallet. Her trust in Richie, or Derek, was now destroyed.
Who was Linda, though? His wife? Ex-wife? Girlfriend? Missi didn't
know. She did know that her relationship with Richie was over. Now, he was Derek.
Googled Once Missi was alone,
she googled Alldred, half expecting nothing important to show up. Instead,
mugshots bombarded the search results. Alldred's face was in every single one. Missi read the
website titles and articles underneath the mugshots. They said things like 'career conman'
and 'master of deception.' At first, Missi didn't know what to do with this information.
Most people would call the cops. However, Missi didn't want Alldred getting away,
as he appears to have committed several times in the past. Missi found,
in great detail, a laundry list of Alldred's crimes on the internet.
Then, Missi says she remembered the name on Alldred's credit cards—Linda. And after some
more intense research, Missi found her. She sent Linda a Facebook message, hoping she'd respond.
Missi waited until Linda finally messaged back, though it wasn't what she expected.
Jealousy? Missi wasn't
what Linda expected either. She initially thought Missi was a jealous ex-girlfriend
trying to break her and Alldred up. Yes, Linda thought she was dating Alldred too,
though she called him Rich. Linda, a retired military vet, met Alldred on
OurTime as well. He manipulated her the same way as Missi. For example,
Alldred knew Linda was a conservative Christian and made sure to say a prayer on their first date.
Linda went on several more dates with Alldred, who claimed to have a Purple Heart. Eventually,
she started inviting him over. But when she lost her job,
Alldred invited Linda to move in with him, and she said yes.
In fact, Linda was sitting in Alldred's house when she first read Missi's message.
Linda answered cautiously, still assuming Missi was a jealous ex. Then, she opened the
links Missi sent. The links took Linda to Alldred's mugshots. Linda recalled reading
the list of crimes and staring at the photos, thinking, 'how do I get him out of the house.'
The two women devised a plan to do just that,
get Alldred out of the house where the police could safely arrest him. Alldred put their plan
in motion when he asked Linda to drive him to the hospital again. Something was bothering him.
Linda eagerly drove him to the ER, dropped him off, then called the police on her way
home. The authorities arrested Alldred and took him into custody. They called
to let Linda know they had him. She relayed that information to Missi.
Both women were relieved to have Alldred out of their lives. But now,
they had to deal with the repercussions of letting him in. Linda looked at her bank statements after
Alldred's arrest and figured out how "Rich" made their time together worth his while.
Alldred found Linda's emergency credit cards while snooping around
in her jewelry box. He snatched the cards, called the companies,
and ordered copies of each one. Then, he used them to fund his successful-looking lifestyle.
The fancy boat, 4-star hotels, expensive restaurants, and fun trips to Hawaii were all
paid for with Linda's money. She also discovered her shrunken retirement fund, realizing Alldred
pilfered it too. Now, Linda found herself unemployed, in six-figure debts, and with hardly
any savings to fall back on. She also had to pay Alldred's rent since the lease was in her name.
Missi and Linda also figured out why Alldred needed to visit the hospital so often. It was
his swapping place, where one of his girlfriends dropped him off, and another picked him up. The
question Linda and Missi had now was: how many other girlfriends did Alldred have?
The Alldred Club Linda, who was still
living in Alldred's house, received a package addressed to the conman himself. The package
contained a bottle of whiskey, chocolate, and a get well soon card signed by a woman named Joy.
Linda read the sender's address and realized Joy only lived a few neighborhoods away from
her. She contacted Missi and told her about the package.
The two women decided to contact Joy and tell her the truth about Alldred.
Instead of talking to Joy directly, Missi and Linda compiled a collection of articles on Derek
Alldred. They left them on Joy's doorstep, along with their contact info. Joy responded
immediately. Linda invited Joy over to her house, where the two swapped their oddly similar stories.
Joy, an IT professional, met Alldred, or "Rich," on OurTime. Alldred told Joy he was a professor
and volunteered at homeless shelters on the weekends. After dating the flakey professor,
Joy broke up with him after a few months. She couldn't handle all the chaotic life tragedies.
However, Joy had a change of heart after Alldred texted her a photo of him smiling on
his boat with Missi that said: life's going good, just bought a boat. I've been taking
my sister and her kids out for rides. My life has calmed down. Want to give us another shot?
That's when Joy put together the package with the get well soon note,
not knowing she was inviting a con artist back into her life who'd stolen $8,000
worth of jewelry, her passport, and her birth certificate. Joy didn't discover the
items were missing until she read the articles about Alldred's past crimes.
The St Paul duo quickly became a trio after Joy bonded with Linda
over wine and a shared experience: having your life ruined by Alldred.
They, of course, knew they weren't the only victims.
While Missi sifted through old criminal records, she found a name. Most of Alldred's
victims chose to remain anonymous or only used their first names. However,
one woman, Cindi Pardini, provided her full name.
Cindi is a Silicon Valley professional from San Francisco. Alldred stole her savings and
destroyed her credit score. He gave Cindi a critical mission: fight for his other victims.
Because Cindi's name was publicly available, many of Alldred's shyer
victims contacted her for support. Cindi became the unofficial leader of the anti-Alldred club.
When the St Paul trio messaged Cindi, they had no idea what they were getting into.
Cindi was obsessed with taking down Alldred. Missi and Linda started
messaging Cindi more and more and put her in contact with other Alldred victims.
The trio soon turned into a quartet, and their quartet evolved into a network.
Even though many of them lived in different parts of the country,
the Alldred victims found community in each other's shared experiences.
And they would need to stay together now more than ever. Alldred was on the loose once again.
When Linda had Alldred arrested at the hospital, the cops only held the conman
for 48 hours before releasing him, with plans to find a more substantial charge to peg him with.
But, as expected, the police took several weeks to find more severe charges. By that time,
Alldred was out of dodge, and his whereabouts unknown.
Transfers The Alldred victims were beyond frustrated.
How could someone like Alldred get away again and again after committing so many crimes?
Alldred primarily scammed his victims via credit card fraud and transferring money from savings
accounts, which is difficult to prove if you're close to someone. Linda lived with Alldred; they,
on paper at least, bought groceries together, paid the bills together, paid rent together.
Since their finances were so intertwined, Alldred could make a reasonable "he said, she said"
argument. She said I stole her card information, but I say she gave it to me willingly.
The Alldred victims needed to catch Alldred doing something bad,
bad enough to keep him in jail for more than 48 hours.
Going National With Alldred on the loose,
Missi, Linda, Joy, and Cindi spent countless hours on the internet and social media,
looking for any new headlines and warning women that Alldred might be in their city or town.
The Alldred victims had figured out the type of woman he liked to con:
professional career women in their 40s and 50s, preferably divorced with children.
To track Alldred, Missi messaged his cousin-in-law,
Vicki, asking if she knew where he was. She told Missi that Alldred
had fled Minnesota and stayed at his mother's house in Sedona, Arizona.
After seeing the mugshots and listening to the victim's stories,
Viki decided to call the police on her cousin. Alldred had an outstanding
warrant for DUI in Arizona. However, the Sedona police only kept Alldred in custody for 4 days.
After Alldred fled Arizona, the network only found leads after they'd been victimized. They welcomed
the new victims into the community while agonizing over how close they were to catching Alldred.
The victims-turned-sleuths felt hopeless and isolated at times. Despite their efforts,
Alldred was still ruining lives, and they had to hear every new victim's story over and over again.
However, the Alldred victims weren't the only ones looking for the conman. Alldred's most recent
victim, Tracie Cunningham, received a call from NCIS, asking if she could help them catch Alldred.
NCIS Unbeknownst
to the victims' network, NCIS had been investigating Alldred since his DUI arrest.
He first caught their attention when he impersonated an ex-Navy Seal. They quickly
realized why Alldred was masquerading as a former Seal and contacted Tracie.
Fortunately, Tracie had broken up with Alldred before he could steal
anything. But for NCIS to find him, they needed Tracie to take him back.
So, Tracie sent Alldred a message. She apologized for being, as she put it,
'hormonal' and said she hoped they could start over. Alldred said yes and
asked if she could pick him up from a doctor's appointment.
Tracie agreed. When Alldred texted her that he was ready to be picked up, Tracie told
NCIS then drove to the medical clinic. The agents were already there when Tracie pulled
up. But she still got there in time to see Alldred get carried away in cuffs.
She snapped photos of Alldred as the agents dragged him along. Tracie remembers them
telling her to put the camera down, but capturing this moment was more important
than following the rules. Tracie knew some women who might be interested in seeing these photos.
Tracie sent the picture to the Alldred victims she knew,
and they sent it to victims that they knew until the news was everywhere.
Missi, Linda, Joy, and Cindi all messaged each other in victim group chats,
fantasizing about Alldred's future in prison, which seemed inevitable.
All of Alldred's victims gave their evidence to NCIS. With their help,
NCIS built a very strong case against Alldred, ensuring he wouldn't get away this time.
Aftermath In late 2017, Alldred
pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, including two counts of identity theft. He was subsequently
tried in a Texas court, even though Alldred committed his many crimes all across America.
With the help of Missi, Cindi, Linda, and Joy, NCIS estimated there are 25 known victims.
These victims lived in Minnesota, Texas, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
The courts ordered Alldred to pay each victim restitution, which added up to over $250,000.
They also slapped him with a 24-year prison sentence, ending in 2038, when Alldred is 77.
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