When her mother went missing, an Illinois woman ventured into the dark corners of America's romance scam epidemic

When Laura Kowal decided to date again after losing her husband of 24 years, the 57-year-old retired hospital executive from Galena, Illinois, joined an online dating site because that felt safer. 

The relationship she forged with a self-described Swedish investment adviser named Frank Borg began with florid emails and giddy phone calls in October 2018. It was romantic and exciting — but it soon became more furtive. 

On August 7, 2020, Kowal's daughter, Kelly Gowe, received a voicemail from a federal investigator informing her that her mother "may have been involved in a fraud scam" as a victim.