A 35-year-old Utah woman whose last known address was in Eagle Mountain is now facing nearly a dozen felony charges after clients of her travel booking company say she left them stranded, broke, and in at least one case holding tickets to the wrong country entirely. Josephine Ranae Bangerter was charged in 4th District Court on Tuesday following a years-long investigation into complaints against her company, Book Your Bucket List, LLC.
According to charging documents reported by KSL News, multiple victims said they worked with Bangerter through Book Your Bucket List only to discover that vacations were either never paid for or booked to the wrong destination, and that refunds they requested never arrived. One particularly jarring example involved a woman who believed she had purchased two tickets to Sweden through Bangerter. At the airport, she and a fellow traveler were told no tickets had ever been purchased to Sweden at all — their documents were instead for a flight to New York.
Bangerter reportedly claimed she fixed the Sweden ticket issue that same day and sent along flight screenshots as proof. Investigators determined those images were not actual itineraries but screenshots of Google Flights search results, the charging documents state.
Unauthorized Charges and Bounced Checks
The case documents describe a pattern of financial harm stretching across several alleged victims. One traveler's bank card was used without authorization for more than $8,400, and after the planned trip was never reserved, that person ended up paying more than $11,000 again out of pocket for the same purchases, per investigators.
A woman who had been friends with Bangerter since high school said her credit card was used to book a trip to China and racked up more than $30,000 in unauthorized purchases. Bangerter reportedly promised to send checks reimbursing her, and later sent two checks totaling $30,000 — but both checks bounced, and the woman said she then lost contact with Bangerter entirely. In a separate instance, a man said his credit card was hit with more than $40,000 in unauthorized travel-related purchases; Bangerter refunded him about $25,000, according to the charging documents.
Not every alleged victim was a travel client. One woman said she invested $12,000 into Book Your Bucket List in 2019 and asked for her money back just a few months later. She has reportedly never been repaid. Charging documents say Bangerter told investors like her that they could get their money back, but did not follow through.
Fleeing to Australia Before Charges Were Filed
The alleged scheme unraveled around 2019, when American Fork police informed Bangerter they intended to send her case to the Utah County Attorney's Office to be screened for possible charges. Instead of waiting for that process to play out, investigators say Bangerter left the United States for Australia at the end of 2019 and has not returned to Utah or the country since.
Her departure put the investigation on hold and tolled the statute of limitations on possible related charges, according to the charging documents cited by KSL. Investigators believe she fled specifically to avoid prosecution. As of September 2026, the U.S. Marshals Service was still advised of her location in Australia — but because she remains outside the country, authorities say they are unable to serve her with a summons.
Utah County prosecutors have now filed a lengthy list of charges against Bangerter, including engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, two counts of second-degree felony communications fraud, two counts of third-degree felony communications fraud, second-degree felony theft, third-degree felony theft, second-degree felony issuing a bad check, third-degree felony forgery, and two counts of second-degree felony unlawful use of a bank card. Under Utah's communications fraud statute, cited by the Utah Legislature, the law targets obtaining money, property or anything of value through false or fraudulent pretenses.
Not an Isolated Pattern in the Travel Industry
Utah's case echoes a similar situation unfolding in Illinois, where the FBI's Chicago office is investigating South Elgin travel agent Ryne Vitug on allegations that he took customers' money without booking their trips, according to ABC7 Chicago. Illinois disciplinary authorities allege Vitug accepted at least $1.5 million from customers since 2022 and failed to deliver bookings or refunds. One former customer told the station he sent Vitug $9,500 for a family trip, then had to spend another $25,000 on last-minute bookings when the trip fell through. A website created by customers reportedly connected more than 300 people across the country who described similar experiences with Vitug, whose attorney has acknowledged service failures but disputes that his conduct amounted to intentional fraud or dishonesty.
A broader analysis of FTC data, reported by Travel + Leisure, found that Washington state and Utah lead the nation in vacation fraud losses, though that comparison stands apart from the specifics of Bangerter's case. For now, Bangerter's whereabouts remain known to federal authorities even as the case against her sits unresolved, with prosecution stalled by distance and the limits of international enforcement.
