Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - MISSING : MARGARET HANLEY NAVY VET AND GRANDMOTHER , FAMILY SUSPECTS SCAM

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

Margaret Hanley, 72,  a Navy veteran and beloved grandmother missing since Monday, Feb. 8. Son Jomo Thompson says his mother has some short-term memory loss. After noting unusual bank activity, the family suspects Margaret may have been scamed.  Hanley’s last known location was identified in Georgia.  She's driving a 2001 Toyota RAV4 with a license plate of ESMF23. Joining Nancy Grace today:  Jomo Thompson  - Son of Margaret Hanley Sgt. Josh Sterner,  Jacksonville, Florida Sheriff's Office   Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Where is Margaret Hanley? This mother and grandmother, let me add, is a U.S. Navy veteran who has been deployed all around the world protecting us. And now it's our turn to help her and her family. Margaret Hanley, 23-year Navy veteran, mother and grandmother, disappears last seen in her own home. Was she a victim of some bizarre scam?

Joining me not only Dave Matt Crime Stories investigative reporter, Sergeant Josh Sterner of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department, who is on the road in his cruiser right now looking for her, but also her son, Jomo Thompson. Mr. Thompson, thank you for joining us. You're joining us from Kentucky. Tell me when you learned your mom is missing. How did that happen? One of her brothers, she has 11 brothers and sisters,

and they communicate daily to kind of keep up with each other, which I think is great. And they told me, one of my uncles told me the last that he heard from her was on Monday the 8th. and he alerted me to this on Wednesday when I found out. I called one of her friends that regularly visits her, OMA, and she told me, yes, she hadn't heard from my mom either. And so that's when we called the police and tried to figure out what's going on where she could be.

Okay, let me understand something. I need to get the timeline perfectly reported. Mr. Thompson, you stated that one of her brothers called you and said, said he last heard from her on the 8th. That would be February the 8th. But I have another conflicting report that she was seen in her home, February 9. Both of those can be true. So when was the last time of a siting? The uncle may not have spoken to her since the 8th, but she may have been cited on the 9th. Do you know the truth of that, Mr. Thompson? I know that police pulled her over.

on, I believe it was the eighth, I have my notes here, pulled her over and for running a red light at 4 a.m. And I think they let her go with a warning. And that was the last siding of her. As far as being in her home, Oma and her brother, Oma said she hadn't seen her in over two weeks. So she said she had spoken with her, but hadn't seen her. Why was your mom out at 4 a.m.? Curious? I have no idea because my mom.

stays at home. The only place she really drives to is Walmart in her neighborhood. She doesn't like to drive. She likes to be at home. Her activities are watching her soap operas. The price is right and talking to her family. So the behavior, her being out and spotted in Gainesville and in Heinzville, Georgia is just very strange to us. And that's what we're trying to figure out what is going on. Mr. Thompson, you are so corrupt. My mom, 94, lives with us. But when she was still living on her own, she had like a little circle. Like we all do.

We all have a parameter where we normally are. It can be the grocery store. My mom was the grocery store, the church piano classes. Grocery store church piano classes. And if I had heard she was in a different city or out at 4 a.m., I would know something is very, very wrong. You're absolutely correct. And I want to point out, Mr. Thompson, that we've done a little checking into your mom.

This lady, a 23-year Navy vet, went to her favorite places. She would go to the grocery store. She would go to Walmart. That's it. Okay, I don't understand what's happening. Tell me exactly, Mr. Thompson, where is her home? What city is it, Heinzville? No, it's in Jacksonville, Georgia.

She lives over in the Jacksonville, Georgia. Yes. And where's Jacksonville, Georgia for people that are not familiar with the geography of Georgia? Duval County. Her address was in Southern Oaks. She lived on a street called Southern Oaks. And again, just a nice neighborhood, good people. They take care of each other there.

So, yeah, this is just, again, just all very alarming to us. She's deviated from the behavior she's exhibited in the last five years since we known her. Again, retired. She goes for walks every now and then, but other than her circle and going to the grocery store, this behavior is bizarre, which kind of leads me to believe that maybe she was being scammed. She was under duress. I just really don't know. I hate to speculate.

I'm just trying to keep my thoughts positive and optimistic that we will find her. The family not eating, the family not sleeping. They want their mother home. Fear grew. when the family tried calling, calling the victim in this case, Mrs. Hanley, age 72, they couldn't reach her. She apparently left with her vehicle, Feb 9. That's what we think. Well, Jomo Thompson springs into action filing a missing person's report with local police. He checked her bank account and was alarmed at what he found. What did you find in your mom's banking account?

count, Mr. Thompson? Just the day in question on the ninth, like transactions, like $200, $200, $200 taken out from TPUSA, which is a pillow mobile company. So I think that was the maximum month. She was allowed to withdraw and then a withdrawal from Walgreens as well, $500. And my mom, very frugal. This, again, is just not like her. She has. had automatic withdrawal set up for her mortgage, her bills, and things like that. And then she had her friend that would help her with groceries and she would write her checks. And so those transactions were all pretty familiar until about a month ago. Then I just started seeing these weird charges in her bank account. You know what's interesting. I want to follow up with

Sergeant Josh Sterner is joining us right now. He is currently in the Georgia jurisdiction and he's flying down I-95 right now in his search for 72-year-old Margaret Hanley. Sergeant Sterner, thank you for being with us. Thank you for taking time to publicize her photo in the tip line. Let me give everybody the tip line right now while I've got the sergeant on the phone. 904-630, 0500. 904-630-0-500. Margaret Hanley. She is a mother and she is a grandmother. Her family can't sleep. They can't eat.

Where is mom? Sergeant Sterner, thank you for being with us right there. When you've got a 72-year-old woman making these cash withdrawals from this place, then that place, her Toyota RAV-4, E-S-M-F-23, E Elephant, S-Sally, M Mother, F-Frank, 2-3, E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-Sally, M-M-M-M-O-W-F-F-F-F-R-Rank, 2-3, E, E, E, E, E, E, ESMF23. To all of our trucker friends going up and down, I 95, 75, 85, look for this Silver 2001 Toyota RAV-4. Please help us. How far could she have gotten? Back to Sergeant Josh Sterner. That's not right. Why is this little old lady, this grandma, making all these cash withdrawals, Sergeant? That's what we're trying to find out, Nancy. I appreciate you having me on here.

At this point, we're trying to get with the banks to see where these cash withdrawals came from. That way we can trace them. We're working with our economics crime division who's used to doing these fraudulent charges to see if they are fraudulent. That way we can get further investigative leads to hopefully find out where Margaret is. Okay, Dave Mac, 72-year-old Navy vet grandma. It looks like she's going up with her wallet out to the ATM. Looks like she's going to make a withdrawal. Now, I don't know Mrs. Hanley, but I'm looking at what appears to me to be a worried 72-year-old woman.

Nancy, a couple of things you haven't mentioned so far. The family has found two large check receipts, one for $10,000 and another for $12,000, not to mention in the day since she's been missing these $200 withdrawals being made. This is a very, very frugal woman who does not waste money. Watches her pennies. Here we have her. Apparently, looks like she's going to make a withdrawal and looking very concerned to me. Okay, straight back to Sergeant Josh Sterner. He is with the Jacksonville Sheriff Department in Florida.

He is flying down I-95 right now. Everybody's searching for Miss Margaret. Okay, I didn't know that. A $10,000. check and a $12,000 check? Was it made out to a person or to cash? Was it a withdrawal? If it's just a withdrawal, that's not going to help me at all.

But somebody had to cash it. What do we know about those big checks, Sergeant? So those big checks were written but never cashed. Her account was never taken, the money was never taken out of that account. It was written to actually an older gentleman in Texas. and we had Texas go out to his house and meet with him. And he had no idea where the checks came from. And they actually took possession of one of the checks that he still had.

Okay, this is a total scam. If the old guy in Texas is cleared, that means somebody is using his identity to get her money. See what I mean? Sergeant, how are they doing it? How are they doing it? I wonder if they backed out of the checks when they realized the evidentiary problems with them, Sergeant Sterner, and started getting her to get cash withdrawals. What do you think about it?

I mean, that's always a possibility, but at the same time, we know when she left her house on the 8th that she was by herself. We have a clerk in Bradford County, Florida, that actually spoke with her and talked to her. She seemed to be fine. He helped her pump gas and then sent her on her way. And at the time, she was by herself. And then we also have her up in Patterson, Georgia, which is just southwest of Seinfeld, where her vehicle was last seen.

And it appears on that video that she is also still by herself. So let me ask you this. What was the date she was spotted in Bradford County, Florida, and got the gas? And what was the date she was in Patterson, Georgia? So she started her travels on February 7th and traveled throughout the day and evening through the 8th. And the last time we have her on the 8th is around 4.30 p.m., I believe. And that was in Patterson, Georgia?

That was in Heinzville, the 4.30 p.m. She was in Patterson around between 10 and 11 a.m. on the 8. Got it, got it. Back to her son, Margaret Hamill, son, Jomo Thompson, Mr. Thompson. Again, thank you for being with us. This doesn't sound like your mother at all. Not one bit, Nancy. And that's just what's so concerning what someone could have posthes said to her

to spring her into this action to do something that she hasn't done in quite some time to, you know, change up her schedule to deviate, to drive to all these places. My mom, I remember 20 years ago when I went to visit her when she was stationed in New Orleans.

And she had apprehension about just coming to the airport to pick me up to take me back to the base. So, again, just very much not like my mom. So I feel like she was under duress. But again, I don't know. I'm just speculating, trying to keep my thoughts positive. All I care about is finding my mom. I don't care about the scam. I don't care about the money.

We just want to get her home. And that's our primary concern. I'm with you. I'm with you, Mr. Thompson. And another thing that everyone should know about your mom is she does have some short-term memory loss. I believe, and I'm quoting you, if you ask what she had for lunch today, she may not remember. But if I said, hey, where were you stationed 10 years ago? She could tell you that.

Florida has a silver alert that helps find missing seniors. That is in Florida. There are limited resources in that jurisdiction. we are looking for this mom, this grandma, Margaret Hanley. To Sergeant Josh Sterner taking time to talk to us tonight, Sergeant Sterner, what are you guys doing to help find Ms. Margaret? We're doing anything and everything we can. We've gotten with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations so they can help us,

as well as all the surrounding counties where she was last seen, just trying to scour and put out, be on the lower. lookouts for her. And honestly, Nancy, what you're doing with her story tonight, it's a help because the more people that see her and see her vehicle, that is more possibility we have to have leads to figure out where she is. And like Mr. Thompson said, the ultimate goal, if she ended up getting scammed, we just want to know where she is and to find her safe. Also, guys, this little lady went all around the world for her country. She was posted where my dad was posted in Guam, and she's been everywhere protecting our country, and now we need

to protect her. Her family can't sleep, they can't eat. They're looking for their mother. If you know or think you know anything about her or her silver RAV-4-E-Elephant S. Sally, M. Mother, F. Frank, 23. Please dial 904-630-0500. Repeat. She could be on the side of the road. She could be crashed. She could be carjacked. Please look for Mrs. Margaret. Thank you to Dave Mack.

Thank you to Sergeant Josh Sterner from Jacksonville Sheriffs. Thank you to Mr. Thompson, her son representing her family. Thank you, everyone, for joining us now. And now help us find Ms. Margaret. Nancy Gray signing off. Thank you, friend.