Mom, 48, Lives And Dates As Her 22-Year-Old Daughter At University

In 2016, Laura Oglesby adopted the identity of her estranged daughter Lauren Ashleigh Hays, who was, during this time, aged 22. She obtained a social security card containing her daughter’s name and used it to enroll and receive financial aid from Southwest Baptist University in Missouri. 

Laura Oglesby, 48, [left] pretended to be her 22-Year-Old daughter, Lauren [right], for TWO YEARS!

Laura obtained a social security card in her daughter’s name to enroll in Southwest Baptist University.

The 48-Year-Old had lived with her daughter in Jonesboro, Arkansas, before relocating two-hour north to Missouri after the two lost contact. To the locals in the small town of Mountain View, Oglesby was a 22-Year-Old student called Lauren Hays, who dated men who believed she was that young and had a job at the city library. 

The 48-Year-Old, pictured here as her daughter, also secured loans and dated much younger guys.

In reality, she was a mother in her 40s, living her estranged daughter’s identity. Equally, Oglesby embezzled over $25K, and at the moment, she’s facing up to five years in prison without parole for Social Security Fraud. In particular, she had received $9400 in federal student loans, $5920 in Pell Grants, $337 for books, and $1,863 in finance charges. 

Chief Perkins of Moutain View Police Department said Laura had a few suitors who believed her younger age.

“Everyone believed it. She even had boyfriends that believed that she was that age: 22-Year-Old,” Chief Jamie Perkins of the Mountain View Police Department told The New York Times. The police tracked Oglesby down through her employment at the library. Southwest Baptist University stated it had cooperated fully with the investigation.

The school didn’t confirm if Oglesby attended classes at the college, situated northeast of Mountain View.

However, the school didn’t confirm if Oglesby attended classes at the college, situated about 135miles northeast of Mountain View. “She was running because she was in a domestic violence relationship, and she’d been running for years. We don’t know her life story outside of what she told us, but we know what happened here.” Chief Perkins added.

Oglesby embezzled over $25K, and at the moment, she’s facing up to five years in prison without parole.

This map shows Oglesby lived with her daughter, Lauren, in Arkansas.

Since pleading guilty to the charge of Social Security Fraud, Oglesby must pay $17,521 to the university and restitution to her daughter Lauren for identity theft. Oglesby’s story had unraveled in 2018 when authorities in Arkansas reached out to Mountain View Police Department. At the time, she was living with Avery and Wendy Parker, a couple who took her in from a nearby women’s shelter after she claimed she was running from a domestic violence situation.

Oglesby had lived with this couple Avery and Wendy Parker.

The couple told KY3 that they treated Oglesby like their daughter but soon noticed red flags. So they eventually reached out to a family member of theirs who happened to live in the same town Oglesby claimed she was from. The couple told the news outlet they were left shocked and angered upon learning of her crimes. “If I could give her a message, I would like to tell her that people she hurt the most, we’re nothing, was her kids. She hurt her kids.” Wendy stated. 

They had believed she needed help after an “abusive relationship but were shocked to discover her crimes.