Childhood secret no longer blocks woman's Florida drivers license after a Gulf Coast investigation

A North Fort Myers woman has finally received her Florida driver’s license after weeks of denials caused by a name discrepancy tied to a childhood secret. The Tax Collector's Office had become a second home for 51-year-old Cara Marshall as she tried for weeks to obtain a driver’s license. She was finally issued one after uncovering a decades-old document, though questions remain about why it was necessary. “Do you swear and affirm the information given by you today is true and correct?” a clerk asked Marshall. “Yes,” Marshall replied. That simple response marked the end of months of frustration. “This has been quite the process,” Marshall said. After a Gulf Coast News investigation exposed her struggle, Marshall is now holding the one thing Florida repeatedly told her she couldn’t have: a driver’s license. “Without your help, I would never have accomplished this,” Marshall said. “It’s been less than a week, and we’ve got my license.” Marshall recently shared a painful family secret. Her birth certificate lists her last name as Sniffen, but she grew up using Hendricks, the name her mother gave her but not legally. “She wanted to hide the fact that I had a different father,” Marshall said. This decision left Marshall unable to prove her identity to the state of Florida, as her birth certificate alone wasn’t sufficient. “Not everybody has a nice paper trail that is going to get Florida to listen to them,” Marshall said. Marshall provided numerous documents but was rejected until she uncovered an old driver’s education document containing her original birth name, Sniffen, just a week after Gulf Coast News got involved. Florida officials claimed that document was the missing piece, and the state approved her Real ID, just as other states she lived in had done. “It’s not fair to us to try and figure out what happened,” Marshall said. The Lee County Tax Collector's Office said the approval came from the state but could not explain why her birth certificate alone wasn’t enough. “Until it happens to you, you just don’t understand,” Marshall said. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles responded to questions from Gulf Coast News, stating they are looking into the matter. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV