TOLEDO, Ohio — Nearly a year after state investigators began investigating her, a Toledo woman accused of faking cancer for financial gain is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning.
Lisa Titkemeier will be arraigned on a fourth-degree felony count of theft at 10:30 in the Lucas County Common Pleas courtroom of Lori Olender.
In late February, 11 Investigates received a tip that state investigators were looking into allegations that Titkemeier had faked a non-Hodgkin follicular lymphoma diagnosis in order to generate sympathy and support from the community.
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The Titkemeier family became one of the faces of efforts to raise money for the families of slain Toledo police officers Anthony Dia and Brandon Stalker. After Dia was killed on July 4, 2020, Titkemeier’s 7-year-old son started a lemonade stand and raised nearly $2,000 for the officer’s family.
But friends told 11 Investigates that during fund-raising efforts, Titkemeier began discussing her battle with lymphoma and that she and her husband Ryan were struggling to pay medical bills. At that point, the community rallied around the family, raising $16,833.65 with four benefits. The family also received gift cards and even house cleaning services.
The St. Francis High School community launched a meal train while Titkemeier said she was being treated for cancer. Between Sept. 8 and Dec. 17 of 2021, supporters provided 44 meals or meal gift cards to the family. Ryan Titkemeier is an intervention specialist at the school.
On Sept. 11, 2021, K-100 radio station organized a lemonade stand fundraiser for the family at Monnettes Market on Secor Road and Indian Creek Zoo in Lambertville, Mich. In the station’s Facebook Live, the family was introduced as “pillars of the community.” Those events raised more than $3,500.
On Dec. 13, 2022, then-Toledo Police Chief George Kral asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to look into Titkemeier after receiving several allegations of possible fraud.
Agent Ryan Emahiser said in an affidavit filed in Lucas County Common Pleas court that the BCI requested treatment and diagnosis records from Mercy Health St. Anne’s, Toledo Clinic and ProMedica. All of the providers stated that they had not treated nor diagnosed Lisa Titkemeier. Agents then followed up with personal visits to the hospitals and were given the same information.
On April 26, 2023, BCI agents interviewed Titkemeier at her home and, according to Emahiser, she said she was diagnosed with cancer in 2021 by a doctor at the Toledo Clinic and was receiving treatment. When confronted with the fact that there was no evidence of her being treated for cancer, Lisa Titkemeier admitted that she did not have cancer but claimed she had other medical issues and that the money was used to pay bills, according to the affidavit.
Emahiser said in the affidavit that Titkemeier admitted to receiving less than $5,000 from the community. But the amount collected at the four events detailed in the affidavit — The Wheelin’ on the Rocks fundraiser in August 2021, the K-100 events in September 2021, a St. Francis soccer event in October 2021 and an online fundraiser in November 2021 — collected donations of almost $17,000, according to the affidavit.
Ryan Titkemeier was also interviewed on April 26 and told investigators that he believed Lisa had cancer.
On March 12, Lisa Titkemeier was charged with the felony count. Multiple sources told 11 Investigates that she has agreed to plead guilty to the charge. The prosecutor’s office said if she does plead guilty on Thursday she will be required to pay restitution of $25,000.
Though investigators believe their debt is not from cancer-related medical bills, court records show that the Titkemeiers have battled financial issues over the years. Most recently, on Sept. 21, 2023, Key Bank filed a foreclosure claim in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, stating that the couple owed $60,550 since April 2023 for their Oak Grove Place home. On Nov. 29, the lawsuit was dismissed after KeyBank received a reinstatement check.