Walker Suspected Of Playing Adoption Hoax On Indy Family

INDIANAPOLIS -- A woman suspected of pretending to be a missing Indiana woman may have also caused pain for an Indianapolis family.

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Walker Suspected Of Calling Indy Couple

Police said Donna Walker, 35, falsely claimed in July to believe she might be Shannon Sherrill, who vanished at the age of 6 while she was playing outside her mother's Thorntown, Ind., home in 1986.

Walker is being held in Topeka, Kan. on $100,000 bond.

But an Indianapolis family looking to adopt a baby claims that Walker also called them Saturday and told them she was pregnant and wanted to give her child up.

Amy and Dave McDaniel (both, pictured, below) said Walker identified herself as Deanna Poizner, and got their names through their adoption attorney.

"I was ecstatic. She told me she was having a baby girl. I went out and bought a couple of outfits. I washed them. I thought that if this is for real, I've got to have something when I go to the hospital," Amy McDaniel said.

The communication continued over a four-day period, RTV6's Derrik Thomas reported.

"She was very convincing. She is good at what she does. We had to hope for the best. We wanted a child so bad to start our family," Dave McDaniel said.

Walker allegedly said she would provide medical records, but the McDaniels waited for information that never came, Thomas reported.

"I was devastated. I thought I was gonna become a mother in a couple of days, and I find out this woman wasn't even pregnant. It's been very hard," Amy McDaniel said.

"It's horrible that she's devastated so many people's lives in a short period of time for no real reason," Dave McDaniel said.

The McDaniels also said the woman made several references to the Sherrill case during their conversations, Thomas reported.

The couple's lawyer, Joel Kirsh, said he had never experienced anything like this in the more than 3,000 adoption cases he's handled.

"I'd hope that they'd find some mental illness there. It would explain her behavior. But if she's just doing it for fame, to be a fame seeker -- its reprehensible," Kirsh said.

The woman who made the calls never asked the McDaniels for money or anything else, Thomas reported.

Kirsh said he figured out it was Walker who was Walker who was contacting the family after contacting other adoption lawyers throughout the country and finding similarities in the cases.

It's unclear if any laws were broken. Officials do not have an active investigation against Walker in the case, Thomas reported.