THOMASVILLE — A Chamblee woman charged with forgery told an investigator her identity was stolen, but the investigator was quick to point out to the suspect her fingerprints were on the check.

A Thomasville business mailed a $9,000 check to an insurance business in Atlanta in March. The check was received by the insurance company and cashed.

“Somehow she wound up with a counterfeit version of the check,” a Thomas County Sheriff’s Office investigator said in reference to Rhonda Gaye O’Neal, a 54-year-old woman who lists a Pilgrims Way Chamblee address but also said she is homeless.

On April 14, O’Neal went to the Thomasville bank the check was written on and cashed the fake document, said Thomas County Sheriff’s Office chief investigator Lt. Tim Watkins.

The business caught the error and contacted the sheriff’s office in May.

“We were able to identify (Ms.) O’Neal based on bank surveillance video, and her fingerprints were on the check,” Watkins said.

The local bank where she cashed the check required her to put her fingerprint on the back of the check.

Watkins requested help from the U.S. Secret Service. A Secret Service agent verified O’Neal was not at Sandy Springs, Athens or Chamblee addresses where she was thought to be. She was found in Tucker at work, Watkins said.

“The U.S. Secret Service was very instrumental in solving this case,” Watkins said.

O’Neal is being held in the Thomas County Jail in lieu of a $2,100 bond.

Charges are pending on O’Neal in Tifton. Watkins said O’Neal cashed a check on a Thomasville business at a Tifton bank.

The suspect will be transported to Tifton if she makes bond here or when the Thomas County forgery case is disposed of.