FBI Continues Search for Pennsylvania Woman Indicted in 2018 Wire Fraud Case

The FBI said on May 23 that it continues to search for Vanessa O’Rourke, a Pennsylvania woman indicted in 2018 on 15 counts of wire fraud. A federal warrant for her arrest has been active since the indictment. Federal prosecutors allege that between October 2015 and July 2016 O’Rourke convinced friends and relatives she was dying from glioblastoma.

She told supporters that traditional treatments had failed and that an experimental procedure available only in Australia offered her best chance of survival. In April 2016 O’Rourke traveled to Australia. Federal authorities said she spent the trip sightseeing and engaging in recreational activities rather than receiving medical care.

After returning to the United States, investigators said she urged supporters to hold additional fundraisers. A donation webpage was launched and a benefit was held at a Pennsylvania restaurant. Prosecutors allege the money raised financed a second trip to Australia later in 2016, during which O’Rourke again participated in leisure activities instead of treatment.

On May 3, 2018, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania indicted O’Rourke on 15 counts of wire fraud. She has remained a fugitive since that date. The FBI is asking anyone with information about her whereabouts to contact law enforcement.