A Web of deceit

Before you think this story ends with redemption- that this woman possibly could be sorry for the pain she's caused—you might want to consider something else: what we found out about her after the interview was over.

Lori Coleman:  When Amy knew she was caught her first statement to me was, "I guess you hate me” and then her second question was, “Am I going to jail?”

Victoria Corderi, Dateline correspondent: What do you think should happen to her?

Chris Coleman: She must go to jail.

Lori Coleman: Jail.

Cindy Miller: Jail.

Todd Miller: Jail.

Karen Mantooth: She needs to go to prison.

There's at least one more person who would like to see her behind bars, Eric Cumbee. Dateline tracked down Eric Cumbee, the ex-husband Amy Ost Cumbee, whom she claimed had introduced her to adoption scams.

Eric Cumbee: I think she's probably one of the most sinister people I've ever met in my life. Was i ever involved in an adoption scam? No.

Dateline couldn't find any evidence that Cumbee was involved in adoption scams. In fact Cumbee says he wasn't her accomplice, he was her victim. They were married six years ago and after just 2 months, he says she abruptly disappeared.

Eric Cumbee: When she left, I received a stack of bills that were probably about 12 inches high.  I had credit cards I didn't know I had.  I owed people I didn't even know money.  She put me in about $15,000 in debt. 

Cumbee believes his entire marriage was an elaborate con. Back then, he was so furious he contacted a Nashville television station.

Eric Cumbee: She is a professional con artist. This is her job and what she does. She’s very good at it.

It appears there are many people who want this woman to face justice, but will she?

Three of these couples reported her to the police. The Karen and Mark Mantooth filed reports in Texas and Tennessee, while the Colemans went to the FBI as well to local law enforcement. They all say no one seemed willing or able to prosecute.

Chris Coleman: What our local district attorney told us was, "Chris and Lori, I'm sorry.  I don't know what to charge it with."

Corderi: What was your reaction?

Chris Coleman: Anger. It’s so frustrating that this girl scammed all of us and many more people and nothing's being done about it.

So why isn’t this woman behind bars?  As cruel as it is, what she's done may not actually be a crime under Tennessee law. Even if it is fraud, it's a scam that can be extremely hard to prove.

Remember, it's okay for a potential birth mother to take money from a family, then simply change her mind about an adoption.  Who can say what a pregnant woman's intentions really are?

While Dateline has found a few cases of women convicted of defrauding adoptive families, experts say that such prosecutions are the exception, and not the rule.

Adam Pertman works for a non-profit organization that promotes adoption education and regulation. He says adoption scams have always existed. The internet just expands the possibilities.

Adam Pertman, adoption expert: Is it the perfect scam?  Nothing's perfect. It's really good. The opportunities are really big.

Corderi: Couples in a sense, are advertising online, right?

Pertman: Sure.

Corderi: Does that make them more vulnerable to scammers?

Pertman: It probably does. It also improves their odds probably of adopting.  That’s a risk they're willing to take.  My issue with it is what are the rules? When money starts getting so big, when regulation is so lax, and when the Internet is so available, then something bad's going to happen.

Pertman says adoptive families simply need to be careful and that it pays to hire trained attorneys and counselors to screen potential birth mothers for them.

Pertman: This is about changing your entire life, that of a child and that of the woman who bore the child. You really want to get it right for the long term. 

These people who learned the hard way also recommend hiring an investigator to do a full background check.      

Chris Coleman: I think if each one of us did the research that we should have we wouldn't be sitting here today.

So what has happened to this woman and the baby she was carrying?

We looked for her a few weeks after she should have given birth, but there was no sign of her or a baby girl at the hotel where she'd been living and no forwarding address. The new cell phone number she had the day we caught up with her is disconnected.   Despite the fact that they were burned, most of the couples we met continue to hope:

Just 5 weeks after they were stung, Karen and Mark Mantooth adopted a baby they named Joshua. They were successful using the very same service that had matched them up with “Christy.”

Karen Mantooth: I mean it's like pinch me.

Mark Mantooth: We had to pinch ourselves.  (Laughter)

Karen Mantooth: Is this real? You know, is he really mine?

Victoria Corderi: Is he?

Karen Mantooth: He is. (Laughs)

The Colemans hope one day they will again find the same joy, another baby to make their family complete and ease the pain caused by one woman’s lies.

Lori Coleman: It's something that's changed us even now.

Chris Coleman: You know, money comes and goes. Your emotions are real.  This is something that we'll never forget.

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