'Ponytail Bandit' Spent Final Days in Thailand with Her Mother and Her Cat

BANGKOK, Thailand — During her final days on the run, Morgan Michelle Hoke – the woman dubbed "the ponytail bandit" – was traveling with her mother and her cat.

Her husband, 26-year-old Stuart Michael Romine, had left this Southeast Asian nation to fly to India and 21-year-old Hoke, who was extradited to the United States on Thursday to face multiple bank robbery charges, spent her last free night in a hotel popular with backpackers, Thai police said on Saturday.

The details about Hoke's final days in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, painted a picture of a troubled woman who sought solace in things closer to home. Her mother, whom Thai police identified as Margaret Hoke from Texas, had arrived in Bangkok with her daughter's cat in late January, according to police and hotel records.

"(Hoke) missed her cat," said Prawut Thavornsiri, a spokesman for the Thailand Immigration Police force. "She was a very lonely girl."

Morgan Michelle Hoke was charged last week with robbery by threat, according to arrest warrants in made available in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday. According to the warrants, she and her husband, acting separately, robbed a Wachovia Bank in Austin three times – on Nov. 1, 2006, on May 7, 2007, and on Jan. 14.

Hoke also might have robbed a bank in Lynnwood, Wash., and a bank in Roseville, Calif., in May while Romine might be responsible for robbing a Washington Mutual Bank in Sugar Land, Texas, on Jan. 10, according to arrest warrants.

Acting on information provided by the FBI on Wednesday, Thai police tracked Hoke to the Villa Cha-Cha, a 70-room guest house in downtown Bangkok, and detained her on the same day. She was taken to an immigration detention center and held overnight before Thai police passed her to American authorities for a Thursday flight to Los Angeles, where she was to await extradition to Texas.

While in Thai custody, Hoke said she did not want to talk about the charges without a lawyer present, Thai police official Prawut said.

But Hoke's mother told police that it was not her daughter's idea to rob the banks, Prawut said.

"She said it was (Romine's) idea," he said.

The identity of the couple eluded investigators until a confidential source who contacted police in Roseville, Calif., on Jan. 17 identified Hoke as the "ponytail bandit," according to an arrest affidavit. The source told police that Hoke was traveling with a man who might be directing her to rob banks, the affidavit said.

Hoke earned the nickname "ponytail bandit" after bank surveillance video from a Texas robbery surfaced, purportedly showing her donning a University of Texas baseball cap with her ponytail hanging down her back, the Associated Press reported.

Staff at the Villa Cha-Cha said Hoke and her mother had checked into the hotel on Tuesday.

"She seemed quiet," Sitwadee Booutrakarn, the receptionist who signed them in, said of Hoke.

Sitwadee and guests at the hotel said Thai police had approached Hoke while she was using the Internet and had detained her after a brief struggle.

"A guy who was very, very low key came up and tapped her on the shoulder and asked to speak to her," said Mark Barnsley, a Canadian tourist staying at the hotel.

When Hoke reached the hotel door she tried to run but was caught by police officers outside, Barnsley said.

Thai police said Romine flew from Bangkok to India on Feb. 10 and that they had given that information to U.S. officials.

In custody, Hoke took comfort from her cat, Prawut said.

"After she found her cat she was just like a kid, like a baby," he said. "She was very nice."

But in a park near the Villa Cha-Cha, Bangkok residents expressed relief that Hoke had been extradited and Romine had left Thailand.

Prajuk Naeuna, a 34-year-old engineer, said he was surprised the couple had traveled to Bangkok.

"It's dangerous," he said. "Criminals shouldn't have a chance to come to Thailand."

Claire Osborn of the Austin American-Statesman contributed to this story.