"How do you walk away from your own children? How do you turn your back?" were the questions Linda was asking herself every day since her husband had abandoned her.
Then, 23 years later, the police told her that her husband had been covering up a chilling crime for over two decades. Linda couldn't believe she once trusted this man around her children.
He Went Missing
When Linda realized her husband Richard Hoagland had gone missing, she was shocked. How could he do this to her and their children?
A few days later, his car was seen in a parking lot of Indiana Airport, but there were no signs of Richard. The police began questioning Linda about taking part in her husband's plan, as they believed she had something to do with it.
He Had Financial Problems
As it turned out, her husband was having financial problems. But instead of telling Linda, he maxed out all of their credit cards and even forged her signature to apply for more cards.
When Richard realized he had 26 credit cards unpaid and several loans and bills, he decided to run away to escape punishment. Shortly after her husband disappeared, Linda began noticing strangers following her around.
He Tried To Reach Out
Richard tried several times to reach out to Linda, and the authorities were able to track his location. But, since he kept moving around, they couldn't catch him.
In his last attempt to reach out to Linda, he wrote her a letter. "I love you and miss seeing you. Let your mom help spend this money. You might want to put some away. Maybe sometime soon we will get to see each other," it read.
They Still Had Hope
He continued, "I bet I won't even know you it has been so long. Mind your mother. Bye, Dad."
Matthew hoped that his father would eventually come back. "Initially, you think: 'OK, this won't last long. He'll be back," he recalled.
They Were Left With Nothing
“He devastated us. He left us with nothing, absolutely nothing. I was very broken,” Linda said.
When Linda's parents visited her, they noticed a listening device attached to her home phone. This meant that someone had been listening to her conversations. All of the mail she received in her mailbox was also opened and resealed. Someone clearly wanted to know if Richard was still in touch with his family.
They Moved
After the bank foreclosed her house, Linda and her children moved to another town and kept their location a secret.
"When you're in that situation, you become very paranoid," she said. Sadly, things soon got even worse for the grieving family.
Her Husband Was Found
Linda remarried to give her sons a father figure, and everything was going well for her until the summer of 2016 when she received a strange call.
Detective Anthony Cardillo from Pasco County Sheriff's Department contacted Linda to inform her that they had located her husband.
He Moved To West Palm Beach
As it turned out, Richard had been living in West Palm Beach, Florida, using someone else's identity.
“Using that death certificate, he applies for a birth certificate. He submits that birth certificate to get a driver’s license. Once he has that driver’s license, he starts establishing himself as Terry Symansky,” Cardillo said in an interview.
Perfect Candidate For Identity Theft
The detective further explained that this man was a "perfect candidate for identity theft."
Using Terry's birth certificate, Richard was able to get his driving license and move around. "Since 1994, the defendant has exclusively used the victim Terry Symansky's identity for everything. The defendant obtained a private pilot's license, got married, had a child, opened and used numerous credit cards, applied for and was granted multiple mortgages for homes with his wife," said the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
A New Life
Richard married another woman and started a family. He even managed to buy a home.
“The son came down. He was shocked. It was still his father. It’s his blood, but that Symansky name is not his. The emotions they were feeling were between anger and sadness and the wonder of why,” the detective said. When the authorities caught Richard, he showed his true colors.
A Selfish Person
“This is a selfish coward. This is a person who has lived his life destroying others,” said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco.
"He told me his name was Terry Symansky, provided me a driver's license. Terry Symansky: correct date of birth, everything. I asked him again. He said his name is Terry Symansky. Eventually, I showed him the death certificate that I'd brought with me. He eventually told me his real name was Richard Hoagland." But was Linda able to get her money back?
She Couldn't Claim The Money
Sadly, she couldn't claim the money that Richard had taken from her, as thieves cannot be charged if the theft occurred more than five years ago.
However, he was charged with identity theft. Linda's sons Doug and Matthew were devastated when they learned the truth.
She Sued Him
“I believe he got caught up with the wrong people. Got carried away and over his head in something,” Matthew said.
After Richard served his 2-year sentence, Linda sued him for $2 million in unpaid child support.
He Never Apologized
What upset Linda the most was the fact that Richard never apologized for his actions. He had hurt two families while pretending to be someone else.
"I was glad that we finally had made it to that point where he would be held accountable for his behavior," Linda told the Star.