A would-be contestant on America's Next Top Model has admitted to authorities in Alabama that she faked her own abduction in a poorly conceived effort to win back the affection of her estranged boyfriend.
Kayla B. Earl of Hueytown was found by a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy lying in the dirt by the side of the road near a Pleasant Grove cemetery this past Tuesday.
Earl, who had a Walmart bag over her head and appeared unconscious, was taken by emergency workers to be examined at a nearby hospital.
After being released she told detectives that a man had approached her from behind while she was visiting the gravesite of a friend, and placed a bag over her head.
He then grabbed her and a struggle ensued.
Earl was able to break loose, and fled to the roadway where she was discovered, ostensibly passed out.
After several hours of investigation that included a review of surveillance footage and the alleged victim's cellphone records, detectives confronted Earl and she confessed to making the whole thing up.
Earl reportedly admitted she was "trying to lure back her estranged boyfriend with sympathy."
"She even said she put the bag on her head to make it look like someone tried to suffocate her," Pleasant Grove Detective Jason Davis told AL.com. "She is going through some personal problems. Between that and wanting attention, it turns out none of this happened."
Earl turned herself in yesterday afternoon and was charged with misdemeanor False Reporting to Law Enforcement.
Earlier this year, a man in Arkansas tried to impress a love interest by staging a fake rape attempt
Jeffery Tyler Siegel's hoax ended in similar disgrace, but, unlike Earl, he was not charged with a crime.
[H/T: Guyism, photos via Model Mayhem, mug shot via AL.com]