Sartaj Singh
With Roxanne Boisvert at the helm, ‘My Mother Stole My Life’ narrates the story of a mother stealing the identity of her daughter as she tries to escape a violent ex-boyfriend. Nathalie Miller (Blaise Crocker) is shocked to find that her estranged mother, Susan Deever (Patrice Goodman), has stolen her identity. However, when she uncovers the truth behind her reason to do so, Nathalie is forgiving and willing to help. As her mother’s abusive ex seems to close in on them, it dawns on her that he may not be the one posing the danger, but it may be someone else entirely. The Lifetime thriller movie creates an intriguing setup of stolen identity and grudges to spin a suspenseful tale of family connections and revenge.
My Mother Stole My Life May Have Taken Inspiration From the Laura Oglesby Case
‘My Mother Stole My Life’ is a fictional movie penned by Melissa Cassera and ML Roberts that bears some resemblance to the case of Laura Oglesby stealing her daughter’s identity to live a new life. In 2016, Laura Oglesby, a woman in her late 40s, stole the identity of her 22-year-old daughter, Lauren Ashleigh Hays, to start a new life in the small town of West Plains, Missouri. She arrived at a domestic violence shelter claiming to be a victim of abuse by her parents as well as her ex-boyfriend. Using her daughter’s Social Security information, Oglesby applied for and received financial assistance to pursue her education and got a driver’s license. She was taken in by the Parkers, an older married couple, who helped her and gave her a place to live as she enrolled in college at Southwest Baptist University.
Oglesby acted in a girly manner, often wearing cat ear headbands and focussed on partying. Another of her interests was making young boyfriends, who all believed her to be 22 years old. She even got a job working at a library and playing a minor role in local theatrical productions. For nearly three years, Oglesby managed to deceive an entire community, where no one questioned her new identity. The ruse unraveled in 2018 when Arkansas authorities, investigating separate fraud allegations, alerted Missouri police about Oglesby. When confronted by the authorities, she initially insisted she was her daughter but eventually confessed.
Oglesby claimed that she was fleeing from an abusive relationship and used a false identity to escape her past. However, she had left behind her daughter and her husband of 8 years, who searched for her after her disappearance. Friends and family believed that Oglesby wanted to relive her twenties as opposed to facing the challenges of being a wife and mother. Her husband filed for divorce soon after she vanished, and Oglesby pleaded guilty to Social Security fraud and was ordered to pay restitution of $17,521 to her daughter and Southwest Baptist University. She faced up to five years in federal prison but had not been sentenced as of the reports.
Similarities Between the Film and the Laura Oglesby Case
The premise of ‘My Mother Stole My Life’ matches part of Laura Oglesby’s story of identity fraud, as she claimed to have stolen her daughter’s identity to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend, similar to what Susan Deever did. Furthermore, Oglesby’s story isn’t the only one of its kind. Wendy Brown is another famous example. Brown stole her daughter’s name and went to high school to become a cheerleader in her 30s. She even cleared the trials before being arrested. ‘My Mother Stole My Life’ builds on its premise of identity theft in a unique way, introducing thrilling twists that underline its fictional nature and original story.
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