Kara Alongi, a 16-year-old Clark, New Jersey teen is still missing, but police are saying that she voluntarily ran away. It appears that her tweet about a stranger being in her house was nothing more than a hoax.
Shortly after 6p.m on Sunday, Alongi wrote a tweet that sent Twitter into a frenzy as they were concerned about her safety. She wrote "There is somone in my hour ecall 911," leading people to believe that Alongi was abducted as she went missing shortly after writing the message.
Alongi is still missing, but police doubt that she was abducted.
"She is currently still missing, but we are now confident she left voluntarily," Clark Police Chief Alan Scherb told Patch. "No abduction, no foul play. We are now investigating this as a missing runaway juvenile."
Patch notes that police found that someone called a local cab company asking for a car to Alongi's house shortly after she posted the tweet. The cab driver identified Alongi and said that he picked her up and dropped her off at the Rahway Train Station.
With this evidence, it appears that Alongi tried to fake her own kidnapping.
Alongi was home alone when she sent the tweet out to her followers. Her parents were at her younger brother's sporting event. When they came home, they discovered that Alongi was missing and they called police.
The Clark Police Department spent hours searching the neighborhood and investigating Alongi's house. With canine units on hand, the police dogs were able to pick up her scent and follow a trail, but it was lost shortly after. Police interviewed Alongi's friends and family to try to find information about her disappearance.
They found that there were no signs of a break in at her house. In a statement last night, Chief Scherb told Patch. : "We still don't know whether she ran away or if there was any foul play. There are no obvious signs of a break-in and the home was not ransacked. The door was open. Kara, if you see this, please contact your parents or Clark Police. You will not be in trouble. We are concerned for your safety."
News about Alongi's disappearance quickly became a trend on Twitter as her name and the hashtag #helpfindkara was tweeted by thousands as they tried to spread awareness around the social media site so that Alongi may be found safe. They also shared her photo and checked her twitter account for updates but there is no update since her call for help tweet.
Some examples of tweets include:
"This is so messed up. Please pray #helpfindkara"
"Totally regret getting on twitter tonight, got me all creeped out but, #HelpFindKara"
Now realizing that Alongi may have faked her kidnapping, people are taking to Twitter to share their anger.
"So that Kara Alongi stuff was fake smh.. Stupid girl."
"This Kara Alongi girl faked her kidnapping and called a cab to take her to the train station lol, how could you do that to your family?"
"You're sick, Kara Alongi, the police could have been helping people actually in need."
Some are wondering if Alongi wrote the tweet as a way to get attention. News of her possible kidnapping caused tens of thousands of people to follow her Twitter account so they can see if she writes any updates, indicating she's safe. She now has over 95,000 followers.
"Cant believe @KaraAlongi went from 40k to 79k followers when she isn't even really missing. Wtf people. #helpfindkara"
"Kara alongi is going to be hated by the world but still got like 100k followers... wtf"
Whether she faked her kidnapping or not, Alongi is still missing.
Kara Alongi is about 5 ft, 3 in., 105 pounds and has blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue Aurthur L. Johnson HS (ALJ) sweatshirt.
If you have any information about Alongi, call the Clark Police at 732-388-3434. Police say that Alongi will not be in trouble if she contacts them or her family.
"We don't know why she sent (the tweet) out," Scherb told the NJ.com. "Right now we are not looking at any charges."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
