North Carolina woman arrested after allegedly faking her own murder, police say

A North Carolina woman was arrested Monday after allegedly faking her own murder, police said.

Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, who also goes by Maggie, 37, allegedly “made anonymous third-party false reports” to both a friend and the Department of Social Services last Friday, claiming she had been murdered, the Franklin Police Department said in a Facebook post.

Officers found Sweeney on Saturday in a nearby town, and arrested her two days later, according to the Facebook post, which condemned her alleged actions for distracting police from other duties.

“Sweeney’s actions caused our department, as well as other departments, many hours of work which could have been spent on other matters,” the police department said.

Sweeney was arrested on charges of causing a false report to a police station, falsely reporting death or serious injury by telephonic communication and obstructing law enforcement officers, police said.

It was not immediately clear where Sweeney was being held, how much jail time she could face if convicted or whether she has a lawyer representing her. The Franklin Police Department did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday morning.

Franklin is a town about 180 miles west of Charlotte.