ST. LOUIS — The woman accused of hoarding more than 100 cats in a Wildwood home has been arrested by federal authorities on charges she stole thousands of dollars from her ailing parents.
Elizabeth Fischer, 55, who lived in the Wildwood house until it was condemned, has been on the lam for two months, federal prosecutors said in court on Tuesday.
Her family said she has been living in a motorhome and prosecutors said she was driving a car with Oklahoma license plates that was registered to a Montana company.
Her brother, Bryan Fischer, said she still has cats — she has taken some to a vet in Franklin County.
Homeland Security officers finally arrested her Monday.
Fischer’s charges, unsealed after her arrest, say she stole more than $23,000 from her mother while the 79-year-old woman was in hospice, and even after her Aug. 22 death.
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“She is still using her mother’s social security number and credit card,†assistant federal prosecutor Tracy Berry said in court Tuesday afternoon.
The case began in late August when a SWAT team raided the Fischers’ 10-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot house.
A judge had signed a search warrant just hours after Carolyn and Thomas Fischer’s other adult children gave photos to police showing what was inside the home, which sits on a large piece of land in the 18000 block of Country Trails Court.
Once inside, officers found more than 60 cats living in squalor — and in the days that followed, authorities reported rescuing more than 130 cats from the house and its property.
The house was later condemned. The cats were taken to a soon-overwhelmed animal shelter. Fischer and her 83-year-old father were moved into a hotel.
The raid on the Fischers’ house on Aug. 28, which drew media attention throughout ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ that week, was the climax of a yearslong power struggle among four of the couple’s six children.
About two weeks after the raid, the family appeared virtually in probate court to determine who would take care of Thomas Fischer and his affairs.
Elizabeth Fischer sat with her father in a hotel room.
Her siblings accused her of isolating their parents for years so she could take advantage of them financially — all while collecting cats in their Wildwood home.
Elizabeth Fischer’s sisters said Elizabeth had been working as a lawyer in Virginia until she was disbarred in 2015 in multiple states, including Virginia and Missouri. She also got divorced around that time, and the bank foreclosed on her house.
The federal charges say that right after that heated family court hearing in September, Elizabeth Fischer took her father to a jewelry store and sold his wedding ring, class ring and a 14 karat gold watch for $7,800.
On Tuesday afternoon, Fischer sat at a table with her feet shackled on the ninth floor of the federal court building. With her long gray hair down, she donned a graphic tee, pink workout shorts and black tennis shoes as she answered the judge’s procedural questions. She confirmed she had looked at her federal indictment “briefly.â€
Berry, the prosecutor, told Judge Patricia Cohen that after the Wildwood house was condemned, Elizabeth Fischer “received a large sum of money†to take care of her father. Berry accused Elizabeth Fischer of withdrawing all the funds and using them for herself.
Her public defender, Kenda McIntosh, asked the judge to release her on bond because of her deep roots in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area. She also asked for additional time to review the case’s evidence — described as hundreds of bank records, the search warrant from the Wildwood home, photos and probate court documents.
“It does seem that this is rather voluminous,†McIntosh said.
Cohen gave her a 45-day extension and said she would take up the issue of Elizabeth Fischer’s bond after a pre-trial services report was filed Thursday.
Outside the courthouse downtown, brother Bryan Fischer said he had mixed emotions.
“Last night when we were made aware of this, I was happy and then sad at the same time, because who wants to see a family member go through this,†he said. “But at the same time, a family member has caused so much pain.â€
Elizabeth Fischer is charged with two counts of identity theft and three counts of fraud in the theft of more $23,000 from her mother’s bank accounts.
Around 150 cats were rescued from a property in Wildwood on Sept. 4 and 5, and while they await being put up for adoption the Animal Protection Agency in Olivette is asking . Video by Allie Schallert, aschallert@post-dispatch.com