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Search continues for Susan Boyce in fake nurse case

7:08 PM, Sep 17, 2012   |    comments
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SEARCY, Ark. (KTHV) -- Authorities are still searching for a woman who allegedly faked paperwork so she could work as a school nurse in Searcy.

Authorities say 58-year-old Susan Boyce of Pleasant Plains faces a seven-count indictment.

Last month, Boyce missed a separate court appearance in Searcy to answer a misdemeanor charge of practicing nursing without a license.

Boyce had worked as a nurse for the district from the 2007-2008 school year to the 2011-2012 school year under the name of Suzanne Pitts.

"In less than two minutes you can have it verified on our website," says Deborah Jones, Program Coordinator for the Arkansas State Board of Nursing.

Jones, who investigated the case, believes just two minutes could prevent four years of fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice says Susan Boyce conned the Searcy school district by posing as a school nurse at Sidney Deener Elementary School for four years without real credentials.

"This person did not have a nursing license. The two licenses cards that she had given to the school were altered those numbers actually belong to two other different nurses," says Jones.

Jones investigated and eventually turned in a complaint to the Inspector General after she received a call from a school health coordinator questioning Boyce's social security number.

"She worked at two different, or three different schools in White County, two of those as a nurse and the last one she was there four years and she was there treating children with many types of diseases and ailments, putting them at risk," says Jones.

The department of education says a background check on Boyce came back clean from the Arkansas State Police, but Jones says Boyce has conned before.

"She had posed as a nurse in Tennessee. Evidently was quickly found there and the facility that hired her as a director of nursing, quickly fired her. She was also in Florida posing as a nurse and had a warrant for her arrest in Florida," says Jones.

Over four years, the Searcy School District paid Boyce more than 175-thousand dollars. Despite the monetary loss, the board found no real mishaps with student health. Authorities are still looking for her and Jones says she, at the very least, knows how to say the right phrases.

"She may have some type of medical background she may have worked in a doctor's office; she may have worked in a nursing home. She may have even gone to a nursing school," says Jones.

Boyce is charged with wire fraud, identity theft and misuse of social security number. Today's THV reached out to Searcy Superintendent Diane Barrett for an interview, but she denied our request. She did say they are working closely with authorities on this case.

Jones says it's important for school districts to be aware of this type of fraud and to look for inconsistencies. Two ways for schools to avoid this type of crime -- check social security numbers with picture i.d's and go to The Arkansas State Board of Nursing website to verify a nursing license.