A Las Vegas woman accused of luring men via dating sites, drugging them, and taking money was in custody in Mexico on Friday as U.S. authorities announced a federal indictment against her.
Aurora Phelps, 43, has been charged with one count each of kidnapping resulting in death and kidnapping, as well as seven counts of wire fraud, three counts each of mail fraud and identity theft, and six counts of bank fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
It wasn’t clear if Phelps has an attorney for the case. The federal public defender’s office in Nevada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada and the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office announced the charges from a 21-count superseding indictment at a news conference Friday.
Phelps is alleged to have met mainly older men via dating apps before arranging dates, drugging them, and accessing financial holdings online while they were not fully conscious, the federal officials said.
They allege Phelps, who has residences in Las Vegas and Guadalajara, did so on both sides of the border.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge, alleged one victim was drugged, taken across the border in his wheelchair, and ultimately discovered dead in a Mexico City hotel room. He said the Mexico City victim as well as two others died shortly after their meetings with Phelps. A fourth victim was sedated to the point of becoming comatose but survived, he said.
“We believe Aurora Phelps deliberately and methodically targeted older men to drug them and steal from them,” Evans said.
Evans said she took cars and accessed social security accounts and retirement plans as part of her alleged crimes from 2019 to late 2022.
The total value of her scheme, officials said at the news conference, was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and could be more if additional victims are found. Phelps used the money to purchase luxury goods, among other things, Evans alleged.
“This is a romance scam on steroids,” he said.
Officials said there are 11 total victims, with four composing the basis of the federal indictment. Two of the four are from Nevada, they said.
The FBI said in a bulletin that officials believe there may be more victims and encouraged anyone who believes they may have been victimized to come forward.
Phelps is alleged to have targeted a wide range of people that also included women and younger men, the bulletin said. The FBI said she has also gone by the names Aurora Flores, Aurora Velasco, and Aurora Alvarez.
Phelps also once lived in Arkansas and, though she was born in the United States, she is a dual citizenship with Mexico, officials said.
Federal officials said Mexican authorities are investigating Phelps in cooperation with the FBI, which was working to extradite her from Mexico.
She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, if convicted, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Michelle Acevedo contributed.
