North Carolina woman is accused of faking her own MURDER after making anonymous report to a friend
A North Carolina woman is accused of faking her own MURDER after anonymously reporting a friend
- Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, of Franklin, NC, has been arrested
- She is accused of having anonymously reported her own murder to the police through a friend
- Sweeney was reported missing on August 18, but was safely located the following day
A North Carolina woman has been charged with faking her own murder after making anonymous reports that she and her friend were missing from the police.
Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, of Franklin in the western part of the state, was arrested Monday by local police.
Known to friends as Maggie, she has been charged with causing a false report to a police station, falsely reporting death or serious injury by telephone communication, and obstructing law enforcement.
She was reported missing this past Friday – August 18 – and Franklin Police Department officers immediately launched an investigation due to information indicating she was in danger or dead.
But Sweeney was found safe the next day in the next town, police said.
Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, of Franklin, North Carolina, was arrested Monday by local police.
Sweeney was reported missing the previous Friday – August 18 – and Franklin Police Department officers immediately launched an investigation due to information indicating she was in danger or dead.
Sergeant Randy Dula continued the investigation and was able to determine that Sweeney had allegedly made anonymous false third-party reports to a friend that she had been killed.
“Sweeney’s actions have caused our department, as well as other departments, to spend many hours of work that could have been spent on other matters,” the FPD said.
“Family, friends and the community at large were also very concerned about Sweeney’s well-being.”
Sweeney was described in her police report as being six feet tall, and police have not given any indication as to what her motivation might have been.
She lives in a $145,900 house on Scruffie Drive, in north Franklin.
She faces similar charges to Carlee Russell, who famously faked her own kidnapping and could now spend two years behind bars.
Spa therapist Russell, 25, claimed to have been kidnapped after disappearing from her home in Hoover, Alabama, for 49 hours on July 13.
The story of her disappearance went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Carlee Russell was grinning in her mugshot last month after being arrested for faking her own kidnapping
After Russell ‘disappeared’ on July 13, her ex-boyfriend Thomar Simmons (pictured together) made frantic calls for information on social media and then made a supportive post when Russell returned home. He has now spoken out to say that he is “disgusted” by her cheating
On July 24, she admitted to fabricating the story.
She has been charged with two counts of filing a false report and now faces up to two years in prison and a $12,000 fine.
Russell was released from prison on July 28 after posting $2,000 bail and was seen grinning in her mugshot.