View Full Version : Abducted College Student Charged
From CNN by way of AP
MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- A college student accused of faking her own kidnapping last month was charged Wednesday with lying to police in what they suggested was a desperate attempt to get her boyfriend's attention.
Audrey Seiler, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of obstructing officers. Each charge carries up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
Seiler disappeared from her off-campus apartment March 27 without her coat or purse. She was discovered in a marsh four days later, and told police that a man had abducted her at knifepoint.
But police concluded Seiler made up the story after obtaining a store videotape that showed her buying the knife, duct tape, rope and cold medicine she claimed her abductor used to restrain her.
According to the criminal complaint, she broke down under questioning from police and said: "It just got so out of hand. I did not mean for it to. ... Everybody did so much for me."
Hundreds of people from Madison and Seiler's hometown searched for her after she disappeared, and her claim about an armed man touched off a major manhunt that authorities said cost the police about $96,000.
The criminal complaint depicts Seiler as a young woman upset by a fading relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan Fisher.
Friends said the two had been fighting, and Seiler's roommate, Heather Thue, told officers that Fisher did not pay as much attention to Seiler as she wanted. Seiler's mother told police her daughter had not been herself lately and was "extremely needy" of Fisher.
Three days before she disappeared, her laptop was used to log onto Fisher's e-mail account and read exchanges "with romantic overtones" between him and another woman, according to the complaint.
A message left at Seiler's home in Rockford, Minn., was not immediately returned. The family's attorney was traveling and did not immediately return calls.
Seiler had been under a doctor's care after she was found, but returned home last week. "Dateline NBC" reported that she was in a psychiatric facility.
Seiler had also reported an unexplained attack in February, saying she was struck from behind and left unconscious. But the complaint does not say whether police believe that attack was also fabricated.
Audrey Seiler, the University of Wisconsin sophomore accused of staging her own disappearance last month, was charged Wednesday with two misdemeanor counts of obstructing officers.
Man, this is a pretty loud cry for help. Hope she gets some.
hank
farmgirl
04-15-2004, 09:17 AM
No doubt! That's just sad. It's a good thing a parent's love is unconditional! What a thing to put one's parents through! :|
Hope she gets some.
hank
Hope she gets some what? Prison time or help?
Tengu
04-15-2004, 09:27 AM
Damn that ****ing sucks. Kid needs help.
Midtown
04-15-2004, 12:55 PM
Her poor family.
The police say she did it to "get the attention of her boyfriend."
Yeah, okay. She's a nutcase.
Jack Mehoff
04-15-2004, 01:11 PM
It's not as bad as the KIA prank I made on my wife/gf 2 years ago.
Hope she gets some.
hank
Hope she gets some what? Prison time or help?
Well, she definitely needs some mental help because that is delusional and paranoid. But, time in the pokey might be warranted as well. I don't necessarily have a problem with her spending time in the pokey but I don't strongly believe she should.
Either way, do something to make sure she doesn't and doesn't want to do this again. Remember this is 2X for her.
hank
Either way, do something to make sure she doesn't and doesn't want to do this again. Remember this is 2X for her.
Well, in my opinion, they should punish her in some way, because if people see she gets off easy, then more might be inclined to do it for similar reasons (boyfriend, attention, just plain ol' insanity). She cost the police a pretty penny to go searching for her. Men were probably called off murders and rapes and what have you so they could go looking for her. All so she could get some attention.
What happens if more crazies do this? And take investigators away from the real missing persons cases?
farmgirl
04-15-2004, 01:47 PM
Either way, do something to make sure she doesn't and doesn't want to do this again. Remember this is 2X for her.
Well, in my opinion, they should punish her in some way, because if people see she gets off easy, then more might be inclined to do it for similar reasons (boyfriend, attention, just plain ol' insanity). She cost the police a pretty penny to go searching for her. Men were probably called off murders and rapes and what have you so they could go looking for her. All so she could get some attention.
What happens if more crazies do this? And take investigators away from the real missing persons cases?
Personally, I think in addition to any other consequences she faces, she should be made to pay for the investigation into her "disappearance."
I believe it was something to the tune of 70 grand, I heard someone say.
Either way, do something to make sure she doesn't and doesn't want to do this again. Remember this is 2X for her.
Well, in my opinion, they should punish her in some way, because if people see she gets off easy, then more might be inclined to do it for similar reasons (boyfriend, attention, just plain ol' insanity). She cost the police a pretty penny to go searching for her. Men were probably called off murders and rapes and what have you so they could go looking for her. All so she could get some attention.
What happens if more crazies do this? And take investigators away from the real missing persons cases?
Personally, I think in addition to any other consequences she faces, she should be made to pay for the investigation into her "disappearance."
Wouldn't that pretty much **** up her entire future right now? Because it definately wasn't cheap... Expensive enough to rule out college and force her to take a loan to pay for it while working at the local McDonalds trying to make enough money to pay off the loan and stay alive...
farmgirl
04-15-2004, 02:07 PM
Either way, do something to make sure she doesn't and doesn't want to do this again. Remember this is 2X for her.
Well, in my opinion, they should punish her in some way, because if people see she gets off easy, then more might be inclined to do it for similar reasons (boyfriend, attention, just plain ol' insanity). She cost the police a pretty penny to go searching for her. Men were probably called off murders and rapes and what have you so they could go looking for her. All so she could get some attention.
What happens if more crazies do this? And take investigators away from the real missing persons cases?
Personally, I think in addition to any other consequences she faces, she should be made to pay for the investigation into her "disappearance."
Wouldn't that pretty much f*** up her entire future right now? Because it definately wasn't cheap... Expensive enough to rule out college and force her to take a loan to pay for it while working at the local McDonalds trying to make enough money to pay off the loan and stay alive...
You play.... you pay. That's the way I look at it. In regards to messing up her future.... there is no reason that she couldn't pay for this and work her way through school. It took me 10 years to pay off my college loans, but I did it.
Who should pay for her attention seeking stunt? The taxpayers? Perhaps working at McDonalds for a few years wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to her. It would be honest work.
Wouldn't that pretty much f*** up her entire future right now? Because it definately wasn't cheap... Expensive enough to rule out college and force her to take a loan to pay for it while working at the local McDonalds trying to make enough money to pay off the loan and stay alive...
Horray for justice.
Maybe she should have thought of that before she pulled her stunt. She has parents, and they're taking care of her right now, and I imagine if she had to pay some fine, they'd take care of her then, as well.
Law enforcement wasn't created so kids craving attention could cost the state thousands, or divert resources away from real cases.
Tengu
04-15-2004, 02:09 PM
It's not as bad as the KIA prank I made on my wife/gf 2 years ago.Dear god!!! :cantbeli:
Of course she should be punished, but if she has to pay for both this AND college she'd propably be paying until her pension. Yeah, she should pay, but it's rather harsh to basically take away her chances in life at such a young age. The costs could easily be around a 100 000 dollars. Try paying back a 100 grand plus college. Besides, even if she'd finish college she'd still be in a world of **** since it'll turn up as a big con in every background check. (making it thus even harder to pay back the money etc. etc.)
BTW I'm not trying to say she shouldn't be punished... heck, I'd fully agree if you'd say to throw her in prison for a while. But to make her pay for it would be rather...extreme. If you commit a 'normal' crime and spend a year in jail you don't have to pay for the police investigation and all either.
Of course she should be punished, but if she has to pay for both this AND college she'd propably be paying until her pension. Yeah, she should pay, but it's rather harsh to basically take away her chances in life at such a young age. The costs could easily be around a 100 000 dollars. Try paying back a 100 grand plus college. Besides, even if she'd finish college she'd still be in a world of **** since it'll turn up as a big con in every background check. (making it thus even harder to pay back the money etc. etc.)
My perception is that she is not as independent as you credit her to be. I heard her lawyer say on the news that, at the minute, she is, "with her parents, and they are helping her through her trauma." Yeah, in other words, she's gone home to mommy and daddy after she made a ****oo. My guess is that her parents will pay for everything.
farmgirl
04-15-2004, 02:23 PM
Haiw... we'll have to agree to disagree. I think she should pay. As for trying to pay back the expenses and paying for college at the same time.... I guess I put that in the "you shoulda' thought of that" column. Once again.... the taxpayers shouldn't pay for an attention grabbing stunt.
I feel badly for her parents. She didn't even think of them. There is no greater anguish for a parent than losing a child. She tortured them to get her boyfriend's attention. :cantbeli:
Well if her parents can pay it and she'll still have a future left when she has to pay it then fine... just as long as she still has a possibility to do more in her life than turning burgers and paying off a loan.
And yeah I agree FG, she seriously screwed over her parents...
We all make decisions in life. We're all expected to be responsible and accountable for those decisions. What you are saying is, in effect, "Well, if it means that she'll actually have real, meaningful consequences to her actions, then I really don't think she should be held responsible."
But do you think it's really fair to screw up someone's life over one little stunt? She should have gotten help... I know that's easy to say, but wouldn't it be a little bit unfair to take away her entire future, while other people who do worse things have better chances? For example, if she had instead of faking the story, robbed a bank, gotten a few years in jail then afterwards she'd be better off then if she'd have faked the story and had to pay for it for her entire life without chances at a good education, job, etc.
Do you think it's really fair to possibly screw up real missing persons, murder, and rape cases over one little stunt for attention? Ask the families of the people who are really missing. I'm sure they have no sympathy for someone playing around as she did.
Perhaps we'll just have to agree to disagree. But, I think you are overexaggerating this "take away her entire future" deal. If anything will keep her from having an idealistic future now, it's the fact that she pulled this stunt in front of the whole nation. Even if she gets through college, she might always be remembered for this stunt she pulled. If some potential employer in the future remembers all this, I doubt they will want someone that unstable to work for them. She wanted attention, she got it. The blame for that is squarely on her shoulders.
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