Chapter 08FIG 1 FIGURE 8.1 Audrey Seiler, a 20-year-old college student from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, staged her own abduction and falsely.

Chapter 08 FIG 1

FIGURE 8.1 Audrey Seiler, a 20-year-old college student from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, staged her own abduction and falsely reported it to police. She later blamed it on depression.

Chapter 08 FIG 2

FIGURE 8.2 A 2005 billboard in Duluth, Georgia, evidences the dual public perceptions of Jennifer Wilbanks: missing fiancé and “runaway bride.”

Chapter 08 FIG 3

FIGURE 8.3 “Exotic dancer” Crystal Gail Mangum. This is a prisoner intake photo from June 2002, when Mangum was arrested by the Durham County Sheriff’s Office for charges related to motor vehicle theft.

Chapter 08 FIG 4

FIGURE 8.4 Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, already cleared of any charges, attend a press conference subsequent to Mike Nifong’s disbarment.

Chapter 08 FIG 5

FIGURE 8.5 A defrocked Mike Nifong listens to the verdict of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Ethics Committee. “We are in unanimous agreement that there is no discipline short of disbarment that would be appropriate in this case,” said F. Lane Williamson, the committee’s chairman. The three-member panel found Nifong guilty of fraud, dishonesty, deceit, or misrepresentation; of making false statements of material fact before a judge; of making false statements of material fact before bar investigators; and of lying about withholding exculpatory DNA evidence.BAFRI (Baeza False Report Index):  a list of red flags for false reporting, each indicating the need for further investigation, developed by Det. John J. Baeza of the New York Police Department’s Manhattan Special Victim’s Squad (sex crimes).False allegation, aka false report:  a false statement, accusation, or complaint to authorities alleging a crime that did not occur. In most jurisdictions, this is itself a crime. In such cases, the alleged victim is actually a criminal offender subject to legal consequences.