SCRANTON, Pa. — Note: The above video is from an earlier story.
The amount of money allegedly stolen by a Lackawanna County travel agent grew to nearly $86,000 this week, as nearly two dozen people came forward recently and made reports with the police.
Eileen Miner, owner of Thompson Tour, is charged in 12 different criminal cases filed in two northeast Pennsylvania counties that all allege she accepted money to book vacations for clients that never happened and for which they were not reimbursed.
As of Wednesday, Miner, 69, faced 38 felony counts and five misdemeanors because of the alleged thefts. A phone message for an attorney listed on some of her cases was not immediately returned.
The investigation began earlier this month those who booked a trip to Italy through Miner's agency spoke with the police and reported Miner took their money, cancelled the trip and then disappeared without disbursing refunds.
That led to the filing of criminal charges by police officers in Scranton, Archbald and South Abington Township.
In the following days, as news spread of her arrest, several more people stepped forward with stories of their own. Whether the trip was to Switzerland, the Virgin Islands or a simple bus tour of New England, nearly two dozen people told police they felt Miner stole from them.
The state police and local officers in Moscow, Waverly Township and Blakely filed new criminal complaints, as did the Wyoming Area Regional Police in Luzerne County. Officers from Dalton co-signed one complaint with officers from South Abington Township.
Miner remains locked up in Lackawanna County in lieu of bail and is tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday.