A New Jersey teenager who launched an extensive search after she tweeted that she was being abducted has admitted she made it all up.
Kara Alongi has pleaded guilty to creating a false public alarm and making false reports to law enforcement under terms of a plea agreement.
A judge on Thursday ordered the teen to serve 40 hours of community service at the Elizabeth police and fire departments to understand the effect false reports can potentially have on operations.
She also was sentenced to a year of probation, a six-month suspension of her driver’s license and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Alongi had vanished in September 2012. She turned up two days later at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop in Penns Grove.