NC Woman Arrested After Police Say She Faked Her Own Murder

What’s in the water? A North Carolina woman was recently arrested after police say she faked her own murder.

Margaret Frances “Maggie” Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, was arrested Monday by the Franklin Police Department after she “allegedly made anonymous third-party false reports to a friend and the Department of Social Services that she had been murdered,” the department announced in a Facebook post.

Per an arrest warrant obtained by NBC, Sweeney used a mobile app last Friday to hide her identity while sending text messages to both her friend and the DSS agent. These messages falsely alleged that she had been beaten to death with a tire iron.

On Saturday, Sweeney was located safe at a local park in a nearby town. She was arrested two days later after authorities discovered in their investigation that Sweeney was behind the hoax.

“Sweeney’s actions caused our department, as well as other departments, many hours of work which could have been spent on other matters. Family, friends, and the community as a whole were also very concerned and worried about Sweeney’s welfare.”

She’s since been charged with the following offenses: Cause False Report to a Police Station, False Report of Death or Serious Injury by Telephonic Communication and Obstruct Law Enforcement Officers.

Sweeney’s incident come a month after Alabama nursing student Carlee Russell made viral headlines after faking her own kidnapping. She’s since been arrested and charged with false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident.