A 32-year-old woman accused of posing as a homeless teenager to enroll in classes at a high school in New York has been arrested.
Michaelann Goodrich is charged with offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and criminal trespassing.
Investigators say the 32-year-old tried to enroll in classes at Cairo-Durham High School. On Dec. 20, she rode the bus to and from the school and attended one day of classes.
Goodrich, who has an address in Cairo, but is originally from California, allegedly told school administrators that she was a 15-year-old homeless girl named Riley Madison.
Investigators still don’t know what her motive was for attending school and said she already had a diploma.
“They shouldn’t have just been let in the door. Who knows who that person could’ve been?” said Cairo town board member Joel Watts.
“I’m pretty mad. We pay for this security here in our school, school taxes go up every year, they do all this safety stuff. I just think it’s absolutely crazy. I don’t know what more to say, besides, I’m amazed,” he added. “I gotta show my ID when I go in the school and everybody knows me.”
However, Greene County Sheriff’s Office senior investigator Joel Rowell said the school handled the situation properly.
“They were very forthcoming and very quick with the information to tell us what’s going on and to assist in our investigation every way possible that they can,” Rowell said.
“We’re reaching out to the parents, let us know if your child had any interaction with her and any other school districts around, we’re trying to determine whether or not she tried to register with another school or not,” he added.
