Los Alamos police believe an Española woman faked her 7-year-old daughter's cancer diagnosis and held fraudulent fundraisers last month on the girl's behalf, according to court documents.

However, Tiffany Ortiz's lawyer said her client never claimed her daughter had leukemia and merely asked Española and Los Alamos-area community members for money to pay for tests to determine whether the girl had the disease. Moreover, when Ortiz found out her daughter wasn't sick two weeks ago, she returned all the money raised, said Sheri Raphaelson, Ortiz's attorney. "There are no victims in this case," Raphaelson said. "Not one person is out any money."

Ortiz, 24, hasn't been arrested or charged in connection with the case, and a Los Alamos police spokesman said Wednesday that the investigation into the allegations remains on-going. However, Los Alamos police Detective Shari Mills, who investigated the case, left little doubt about how she feels in a search warrant filed Monday in state District Court in Santa Fe.

"I believe Tiffany knew (her daughter) did not have leukemia and lied about it to her friends and family," Mills wrote in the warrant, which sought authorization to examine the bank account in which Ortiz allegedly deposited the donated funds. "Subsequently fund raising activities were fraudulently held under the pretense that (her daughter) has leukemia."

Mills began looking into the case Sept. 5, when a pediatrician at the Children's Clinic at the Los Alamos Medical Center called her, the search warrant says. Dr. Shirley Schoonover told Mills a school nurse at Aspen Elementary School in Los Alamos had just called her about a letter the nurse had received by fax from Ortiz.

The letter stated Ortiz's daughter had been diagnosed with leukemia and was signed by Schoonover, the warrant says. Schoonover, however, said she knew nothing of the child's leukemia. She said when the nurse faxed her the letter, she discovered the signature on the letter was not her own, according to the warrant.

The letter said Ortiz's daughter "has been diagnosed with leukemia," though "the exact strand of the disease had not been diagnosed ..." the warrant says.

Two doctors later told Detective Mills that a child who is diagnosed with leukemia would be checked into a hospital immediately and started on a treatment regimen. One of those doctors said the child should be taken from the parents if treatment was not started immediately, according to the warrant.

The school nurse received the letter after she noticed the 7-year-old's leukemia diagnosis on the medical card her mother filled out at the school and asked Ortiz for documentation about it, the warrant says.

Detective Mills later discovered two different fundraising fliers related to Ortiz's daughter placed on doors around Los Alamos.

One of them, posted at Ortiz's place of employment, advertised a benefit dance at Casanova in Alcalde on Sept. 19 — where tickets were $10 each or $15 for a couple — and a benefit chicken enchilada dinner at the community center in Alcalde on Sept. 13, where plates were $5 each, the warrant states. Underneath a Bible verse from Corinthians, the flier said, "All benefit profits and donations are going towards tests and treatment for (Ortiz's daughter) who is seven years old and was diagnosed with leukemia," the warrant says.

The other flier was about a softball tournament Sept. 6 and 7 at the Velarde fields, in which the entry fee was $175 per team, according to the warrant. The same Bible verse and sentence about donations for the girl's leukemia appeared on the bottom of that flier, the warrant states.

In an interview with Mills on Sept. 9, Ortiz said doctors had diagnosed her daughter with leukemia "but weren't sure what strand," the warrant states. Ortiz said doctors were hoping her daughter had a "strand" that could be treated with a pill that wasn't as strong as chemotherapy, according to the warrant. Ortiz also said she'd spoken with Schoonover the week before.

Detective Mills later accused Ortiz of forging the doctor's letter, the warrant says. "Why would I write that letter?" Ortiz asked, denying the charge.

Raphaelson, Ortiz's lawyer, said her client received the letter in question from Schoonover's office. The alleged forged signature on that letter might be because a secretary sent it, she said.

Finally, Mills asked Ortiz about the money donated during the fundraisers. Ortiz said she hadn't counted it yet and was going to call her grandmother "and find out if she had put the money in the account," the warrant says.

As she called her grandmother, Ortiz said she didn't want to say anymore without a lawyer present, then told the person who answered the phone "to get hold of grandma and tell her to deposit the money right away and get the receipts," the warrant says.

Bank records later showed deposits of $89.32 on Aug. 27, $153.27 on Sept. 8 and $3,683 on Sept. 10. The latter deposit was made after Ortiz's conversation with Mills, the warrant states.

Medical records indicated blood collected Sept. 10 from Ortiz's daughter showed the girl to be healthy, according to the warrant.

Raphaelson said her client is being unfairly targeted and hasn't done anything wrong. "My understanding is she never represented that her daughter had an illness, but made legitimate requests for testing because a doctor said her daughter might be sick and might need testing," Raphaelson said.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.