Police charge Carlee Russell with fabricating own kidnapping story
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LEARN MOREPosted: 1:54 p.m. EDT Aug 23, 2023
A woman was arrested in North Carolina after police said she faked her own death.
Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney is charged with three crimes. They include making a false report of death or serious injury.
The Franklin Police Department issued a missing person's notice on Aug. 18. The police department said it was notified that Sweeney was either endangered or dead.
The next day, however, Sweeney was found safe.
Police said their investigation revealed that Sweeney "made anonymous third-party false reports to a friend and the Department of Social Services that she had been murdered."
It's unclear why Sweeney allegedly made the reports, which police said was an unnecessary drain of their resources.
"Sweeney's actions caused our department, as well as other departments, many hours of work which could have been spent on other matters," the Franklin Police Department said in a statement on Facebook.
The 37-year-old has since been released from police custody. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance in September.
