'Missing' 23-year-old woman faces charges after faking own kidnapping, police say

PENNSYLVANIA -- A 23-year-old woman deemed missing earlier this week in western Pennsylvania actually faked her own abduction and now faces several charges, including false alarm to the agency of public safety, police said.

Chloe Stein's apparent disappearance Monday night prompted an urgent search that cost state authorities "tens of thousands of dollars," State Police Trooper Steve Limani said on Wednesday.

According to police, the last known contact with Stein was a text she sent her boyfriend Monday night, alleging that she was being pulled over.

Less than 24 hours later, police, acting on a tip, found her safe at a home in Jeannette.

According to court documents obtained by WTAE, Stein initially told police she had been abducted at gunpoint by a man in a mask before being released near her home but later admitted to making up the story.

Stein reportedly was supposed to graduate from Penn State University this weekend, but police learned that she had not been enrolled there for more than a year.