Back in 2016, ABC 20/20reported Richard Hoagland was discovered after being declared dead. The disappearance happened in 1993, 11 years into his marriage with Linda Iseler.
“He called me at work and told me that he was ill … and that he needed to go to the emergency room,” Iseler said in the 2016 report. “And I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just wait, and I’ll go with you?’ He said, ‘No, I don’t have time to wait.’”
Iseler checked the hospitals in the area, but there was no trace of him ever being there. Authorities eventually found Richard Hoagland’s car abandoned at Indianapolis International Airport, but there was no record of a Richard Hoagland taking any flights out of the airport the day he went missing.
ABC reports it turns out he had been living as a man named Terry Symansky, who was a fisherman killed in a boating accident in 1991. Police say Hoagland fled to Florida, where he rented a room from Symansky’s father. He found the death certificate and stole it, using it to obtain his identity.
Hoagland was arrested for charges including identity fraud in 2016. Now an Indiana judge says he owes Iseler compensation.
Another hearing is scheduled for July 19, where Iseler is seeking to get back her attorney fees.