Lauren Potts made a plea on Facebook around 22 hours ago at the time of this post.
Hannah is still missing. This is a weird case. We have not been able to find the video yet.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
– Hannah apparently made the video at around 7am on July 24.
– Her phone died or was turned off shortly after.
– Her family and friends are conducting searches.
– The Gibson County Sheriff Department have finally gotten involved.
Just before 6pm on July 25, it was announced that the FBI are now involved:
Hannah’s sister has released some more information:
We were sent a recording of the video – you can listen here as it seems to be audio only:
Kelly put together a transcript of the audio:
“Mom are you there? Hello? Mom if you can hear me please say something. I really need to hear your voice. Somethings happened. I was out taking those pictures of the animals and this guy came out of nowhere. it was the same guy I saw yesterday morning in the maroon car. He grabbed me, he pushed me into the trunk. Oh god. Where is he gonna take me? Mom please. Think Hannah, think. He um… He’s black, he’s about um, Jerry’s height, Jerry I work with. He’s, he’s.. He um… his voice is deep and kind of the way he called me ‘baby girl’ sent shivers down my spine, I don’t like it. Please mom, if you’re there can you please say something to me? I’m in a room… there’s a little light, four room, four walls… and uh I don’t think they know I have the phone so you gotta tell, you gotta tell the cops everything that, you gotta show them this video so maybe they can find me and um I don’t know where he uh, where did he say, he said something about Ohio. God mom, I love you. Tell dad I love him too. Take care of Gigi for me. Please if I don’t make it back, I love you. I love you so much. I don’t know, I don’t know (inaudible) if I don’t make it home, will you ask Robin to take… care of Ringo for me. Um, did you, tell robin to take care of Marvin too. Tell Gina I said thank you for everything she’s done for me at work. You have every right to feel the way you need to about your kids.”
Part Two transcript: “but try to make things right with Lauren, cause she’s lost and she needs you right now. I know that she realized that showing up to kill dad that day was what I don’t think Lane (?) was understanding it either. Tell Courtney and Brittany to take care of those kids. Tell them that nana (or Hannah?) loves them. Maybe she’ll see them again some day. I know everything with Maria and Josh is bad. And I know Maria and I are in a fight about everything going on. But will you please tell her to do what it takes to keep her kids away from.. from that ex of hers, the child molester, the rapist, and the abuser. Tell her I’m sorry, I didn’t want to sound like I was accusing her of anything. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, mom. Love you. I should have listened more, I should have done what you asked, and I shouldn’t have went walking. Mom are you there, can you pick up the phone please? Can you say something? Hello? Mom please I think I hear someone coming. No I’m serious I hear someone coming. Mom?”
These are comments made by her brother
On July 26, Hannah was found safe.
Hannah’s family have made public social media posts, slamming her actions:
On July 27, the Superior Court began legal proceedings against Hannah:
More information about Hannah’s ‘kidnapping’ has now come out:
Deputies found Hannah in a basement of a friend’s house, shackles on her ankles and a pair of handcuffs hanging on her right wrist.
Hannah told police she faked her disappearance for a manuscript she’s writing, according to a probable cause affidavit. She faces a preliminary charge of false informing in connection to the hoax.
Also charged were Maria Hopper, 34, and Joshua Thomas, 45, whom Potts said were characters in her story. The duo allegedly helped harbor the runaway woman.
Hannah told police that she rehearsed the video for a week prior to her ‘disappearance’. She was found after Maria gave police permission to search her property.
Hannah also said she was planning her disappearance with Maria for at least a week. She made a diary in which she acknowledged she knew her Facebook post would go viral.
During their investigation, police uncovered messages between Maria and Hannah. The conversation reportedly detailed how the kidnapping would go down.
“The tone, content, and context of the messages read similar to a fantasy fiction story,” police wrote in the arrest records.
A second string of messages outlined how Maria was going to pick up Hannah in her vehicle. Also mentioned in the messages were plans to turn off the location tracking on Hannah’s phone.
Hannah told Maria to destroy the SIM card and her phone.
Maria and Joshua arranged a room for Hannah to stay in – they gave her food and drink.
In an interview with police, Maria admitted to picking up Hannah from her house and lying about harboring her. Joshua also said he knew of the kidnapping hoax.
In an interesting twist, Maria Hopper joined our Facebook group on July 26!
