May 28, 2009 12:30 pm US/Eastern
Hoax Abduction Mom Used Colleague's ID
Woman Allegedly Called 911 Claiming She And Daughter Were Abducted, Stuffed In Trunk
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ―
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Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter have been located by the FBI in Disney World.
CBS
A Philadelphia-area woman says she gave her ID to a former co-worker to fix office paperwork without knowing of her plans to fake her abduction and fly with her daughter to Florida.
Jillian Jenkinson said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show" that Bonnie Sweeten's request to use her identification to fix a discrepancy on her 401(k) "seemed innocent."
Jenkinson says she had worked with Sweeten for nine years, but didn't specify where they had worked together.
In frantic 911 calls on Tuesday, Sweeten said she and her daughter had been abducted by two men in broad daylight and claimed she was stuffed into the trunk of a car.
Sweeten and her daughter Julia Rakoczy, 9, were located at the Grand Floridian Hotel in Disney World Wednesday evening.
Sweeten was taken into custody by FBI officers and is currently awaiting extradition back to Bucks County.
According to Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry, Sweeten will be charged with false reports and identity theft.
Investigators said her daughter was safe and was going to be picked up by her biological father in Florida.
According to Henry, Sweeten borrowed Jenrikson's driver license and presented it as her own when she boarded a plane at Philadelphia International Airport en-route to Orlando.
Investigators said Sweeten withdrew approximately $12,000 from various bank accounts over the past few days and that the hotel was booked until Friday.
The incident initially began when Upper Southampton Police received a 911 call from Sweeten claiming she and her child were abducted following a minor crash Tuesday afternoon. She reported the alleged accident happened before 2 p.m.
Sweeten reportedly told police she was in her SUV when she was struck by a late 1990s dark-colored Cadillac. Two suspects exited the vehicle and forced her and her daughter into the trunk of the vehicle, she reportedly said.
An officer with the 9th District spotted a 2005 GMC Yukon Denali belonging to Sweeten at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. The SUV did not have any damage, Henry said.
Sources tell CBS station KYW-TV in Philadelphia surveillance video from businesses in Center City, near where Sweeten's vehicle was recovered, show her getting out of the car with her daughter minutes after making several 911 calls reporting the alleged abduction.
Sources say surveillance video obtained by the FBI shows the pair arriving at Philadelphia International Airport a short time later at about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
When asked why Sweeten did what she did, Henry said there were some concerns going on in her life.
"We believe that there were some domestic concerns with her husband and some financial concerns as well," Henry said.
The incident remains under investigation.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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