North Carolina woman charged for sending false messages of her death and faking her own murder, police say

A woman from North Carolina is facing charges for allegedly sending fake messages to a friend and the Department of Social Services, claiming that she had been assaulted and killed.

Maggie Sweeney, 37, the woman in question, was taken into custody on Monday. She was subsequently released with a written commitment to appear in court, as stated in a press release issued by the Franklin Police Department.

Charges against Sweeney include providing a false report to a police station, falsely reporting serious injury or death via telephone, and resisting a public officer.

All the charges are misdemeanors, the Macon County Court clerk confirmed.

Sweeney has not filed a plea yet. CNN has not been able to find out if she has an attorney.

The Franklin police started their investigation on Friday, when Sweeney was reported missing.

In a Facebook post, they initially revealed they received information that suggested “Sweeney was endangered or deceased.”

Following the North Carolina woman's safe discovery the following day, Franklin Police First Sergeant Randy Dula persisted in investigating the case.

“Later that same day he developed information that Sweeney had used a third-party text app to send the fraudulent texts to her friend and the Department of Social Services that she had been assaulted and was deceased,” Franklin Police Chief Devin Holland said in an email to CNN.

The police said that Sweeney’s actions wasted their time and resources, as well as caused worry and concern among her family, friends, and the community.

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“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,” the police said in their Facebook post.

Sweeney is scheduled to appear in court for the first time on September 7.

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