Cops: Bay Area Kidnapping Is Really a Hoax

If you thought Denise Huskins' bizarre kidnapping was hard to believe, you were on to something. California police now say her disappearance from boyfriend Aaron Quinn's home in Vallejo on Monday was "an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping" and Huskins and Quinn may face charges. Officers first spoke to a cooperative Huskins at her father's apartment in Huntington Beach after she turned up yesterday. The FBI arranged a jet to bring her to North Carolina to speak with investigators, but she never showed up, CNN reports. "As of this moment, detectives have been unable to contact either Ms. Huskins or family members," police say, per the San Jose Mercury News. "Ms. Huskins has since retained an attorney and detectives are unaware of her location."

Quinn's initial statement "was such an incredible story, we initially had a hard time believing it and we couldn't substantiate any of the things he was saying," Lt. Kenny Park adds, per Fox News. He says Quinn and Huskins "owe our community an apology" as police were sent on a "wild goose chase." Police say the motive isn't clear, but officers are checking Huskins' financial records; an $8,500 ransom was demanded. Huskins' uncle tells NBC4 that she called her father from an unknown number yesterday. "She said, 'Daddy, I am safe, they let me go and I am walking to your house.'" He added the case "seems curious to me," but "the most important thing, obviously," is that she's safe. (More kidnapping stories.)