Man Makes Desperate Plea On Facebook Pretending To Be Kidnapped; Arrested

An Arkansas man has been arrested after he made a desperate plea on Facebook pretending he was kidnapped by gunmen while walking in Helena, police said.

The 26-year-old man identified as Fredrick Gamble issued a fake alert on Facebook claiming that he was kidnapped Tuesday by armed men who forced him into the back of a van. Gamble pleaded for help saying he does not know his location and could only identify the first three letters of the vehicle's license plate as "AE3."

"Help Me Please I Was Jus Kidnapped Walking In Helena I'm In The Back Of A Gray Van These Guys Pulled Guns On Me & Forced Me Inside," Gamble wrote on his Facebook page.

The post was shared more than 4000 times and soon went viral. Meanwhile, Gamble's mother, Cynthia Sparks approached cops asking for help to find her missing son. Although the officials initiated an active investigation, they soon realized the kidnapping was a hoax and located Gamble at his girlfriend's house, NY Post reported.

The man was arrested on multiple charges including false report, felony possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance. In addition to these charges, he was also charged for fleeing a traffic stop that happened Monday, including three counts of failure to stop at a stop sign, driving on a suspended driver's license, careless and prohibited driving, and defective equipment due to a traffic stop.

Gamble's girlfriend, 42-year-old Nicole Rohrscheib was also taken into custody on charges of hindering apprehension or prosecution, ABC 24 reported.

The court has scheduled both Gamble and Rohrscheib to appear for a hearing on Nov. 14, 2022.

Earlier this month, a 20-year-old man in India cooked up a fake kidnapping story to extract money from his parents. The man, identified as Nitesh Anokhilal from Ujjain, a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, faked his abduction to repay his debts for online gaming, police said. The investigation began after Anokhilal's parents transferred the ransom and approached cops saying their son was kidnapped. Cops cracked the hoax after Anokhilal made inconsistent statements regarding abduction when he was found at a railway station.