Authorities File Charges In Kidnapping Hoax

BERLIN – A Wilmington, Del. woman was arrested last week for providing a false statement to a police officer after investigators determined her wild story of being accosted by an Hispanic man at a party and forced at gunpoint to drive to Ocean City turned out to be a hoax.

Around 6 a.m. last Sunday, Monet Jade Wallace, 21, of Wilmington, called Worcester County 911 service and made an allegation she had just escaped from a Dominican Republic man with a Spanish accent who had kidnapped her in Wilmington and forced her at gunpoint to drive him to the Ocean City area. Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the reported location, found Wallace and took her into safety.

Worcester County Bureau of Investigation (WCBI) detectives were then called to begin to investigation the allegations. During the interview, Wallace told detectives she was at a party in Wilmington during the early hours of Saturday morning. She further told detectives when she was leaving the party, she was abducted by an individual believed to be from the Dominican Republic and with a Spanish accent. According to her story, the suspect had a handgun and demanded she drive him to Ocean City.

Wallace told detectives she complied with the suspect’s demands and drove to the Ocean City area. She told police the suspect held her captive until early Sunday morning when she escaped in the Bishopville area, which is when she called 911. During the course of the investigation, many inconsistencies were discovered in Wallace’s story and detectives began to doubt the validity of her story.

Several days later, she recanted her original story and told WCBI detectives she had made the whole thing up. A criminal summons was obtained and Wallace was charged with providing a false statement to a police officer.