Arkansas Man Charged With Faking His Own Kidnapping

The authorities apprehended a man on numerous charges after he posted on social media stating he had been kidnapped. Helena-West Helena Police Department stated Tuesday that Cynthia Sparks came to the police station around 7:30 a.m. the same day to report her son as missing.

KAIT 8 reported that Sparks informed the authorities that her 26-year-old son, Fredrick Gamble, made a post on Facebook earlier that morning stating he had been kidnapped.

Gamble stated on a Tuesday morning in his Facebook post that he was in the back of a gray van. He said that the guys he was with at the time pulled guns on him and forced him inside. He asked for help and said he had just been kidnapped while walking in Helena. He also mentioned that he couldn’t see tags and did not know where he was at the moment. Gamble added in his post that he did not know how long he had and that the license plates of the van that kidnapped him start with ae3, Fox News reported.

The authorities asked the public for help in locating Gamble. Helena police asked anyone with information about the kidnapping to contact the HWHPD at (870) 572-3441. The authorities stated concerned citizens could submit information and photos anonymously by downloading the Helena-West Helena PD app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

However, during their investigation, officers discovered that Gamble was at a house on 10th Street.

Police later searched a home on 10th Street in West Helena. Authorities and Phillips County sheriff's deputies found Gamble inside with his girlfriend, Nicole Rohrscheib, 42. The investigators then determined the abduction was a hoax. Officers arrested him and charged him with filing a false report, felony possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, fleeing, three counts of failure to stop at a stop sign, driving on a suspended driver’s license, careless and prohibited driving, and defective equipment after a traffic stop Gamble took off from on Oct. 24, 2022. His bond was set at $150,000.

ABC 24 reported that the authorities also arrested Rohrscheib and charged her with hindering apprehension or prosecution, with her bond set at $1,000. They will be in Phillips County Circuit Court on Nov. 14.