FREDERICTON - A Fredericton-area woman made up a story about being abducted at gunpoint and forced to drive to Toronto, RCMP in New Brunswick alleged Monday.
Marcia Simmons, 44, of Noonan, N.B., was reported missing by family members earlier this month after she failed to pick up her teenaged daughter.
Simmons initially told police she had gone to a Woodstock, N.B., campground to get a campsite for her and her daughter when a man hopped into her SUV, flashed a firearm and told her to drive to Toronto.
Police allege there was in fact no abduction and that Simmons went to Toronto for personal reasons.
"We don't know why this happened. We were not told exactly why the victim went to Toronto. She is keeping that to herself," RCMP Sgt. Claude Tremblay told a news conference.
"She was interviewed several times, which is normal in any case, and over the weekend it just wasn't working out. The story we were given was not matching the evidence we had, or the lack of evidence."
Tremblay said police expended a lot of time and resources on the case over the course of two weeks, and have now referred it to prosecutors to decide if any charges are warranted.
