Tempel’s paternal aunt revealed her alleged scheme to the police. A woman in Indiana allegedly married her biological father in an attempt to get his $350 Veterans Affairs check, according to local investigators. Now she's facing charges of bigamy and falsifying a marriage license.
The marriage was finalized at at the Vanderburgh County Court House the same day she filled out the application, which police said featured numerous inaccuracies. Smaller details — like both parties' addresses — were also fake, according to law enforcement.
The incident began on July 26, 2024, when Tempel and McCollom were legally married in the state of Indiana. Tempel was reportedly in the middle of a divorce this time. McCollom's sister — Tempel's aunt — told police that her niece had falsified the records to steal her brother's $350 VA payments. She also provided law enforcement with documentation from a DNA genealogy service showing that McColloum, who is due to be released in July, had a near 100 percent likelihood of being Tempel's father.
