Kara Alongi Hoax: Missing NJ Teen’s Distress Tweet Was A Ruse

Authorities say it appears that a missing New Jersey teen’s weekend tweet about a home intruder was nothing more than a hoax.

According to the NY Daily, 16-year-old Kara Alongi of Clark, New Jersey gained thousands of followers Sunday after she took to Twitter to inform her friends of an alleged stranger who was in her home.

“There is someone in my hour ecall 911,” Alongi posted on Twitter at 10:12 pm Sunday.

Following Kara’s plea for help, people re-tweeted her message and the hashtag #helpfindkara trended on the social network.

A preliminary investigation by police, however, suggested that no foul play was involved in her disappearance, and investigators later discovered that someone had called a local taxi company at about the time the tweet was posted.

On Monday, police changed the status of Alongi’s disappearance from a possible abduction to a juvenile runaway after the teen was seen on a security camera at the NJ Transit Rahway train station in Union County holding a backpack and a large purse.

Clark police Chief Scherb said his department has not determined whether Alongi will face any kind of penalty or punishment as all efforts are focused on locating her and bringing her home.

“Kara might feel that she will be in trouble if she comes home after this scare and causing a panic,” Scherb said, adding that Clark police were flooded with an estimated 6,000 phone calls after Alongi’s tweet spread like wildfire. “At this point, all everyone cares about is seeing her safe and at her house where she belongs.”

Kara Alongi had more than 108,000 Twitter followers as of Monday.

NBC Today has more on missing NJ teen Kara Alongi’s Tweet hoax in the video below: