Hannah & The Horrible Hoax
On July 24th, 2020 at a little after 6 a.m., Hannah Potts, a 23 year old woman from Princeton, Indiana, made a Facebook live video that was only viewable by her Facebook friends. According to those who had seen the video it was just a dark screen with Hannah talking, directing her words to her mother, and saying that she had been abducted.
For me, this was strange from the very beginning. Personally, I think if I was abducted and still had my phone, I would call or text someone directly to tell them what was happening and I would also call 911. Hannah went live on Facebook instead of making direct contact with someone and she never called 911, which I guess you could say, set off my “hinky meter”.
Some of the details that Hannah included in the video were that a black man with a deep voice had taken her and put her in the trunk of a maroon colored car. She also said that she heard the man mention something about Ohio. Hannah asked for help and talked about her love for family members and asked for her mom to give messages to certain people.
Later that day, Hannah’s family began posting to social media in an attempt to locate her. Hannah’s twin sister Lauren posted these words, which have since been deleted:
“With a broken heart I never thought I would ever be posting something like this. I need help Facebook friends. Please share this post. Share this photo. Please help us. My twin sister; Hannah posted a video describing she had been kidnapped this morning. If you have seen her or heard from her please contact Princeton Indiana Police Department or my family. My cellphone is 8126771421 I miss you Hannah please come home 💔 6'1 Brown hair Brown eyes”
Lauren’s post was shared at 10:49pm on July 24th, 2020, by the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page but there didn’t seem to be much urgency in their post. “Please contact our office at 812–385–3496 if you have any information.”
Hannah’s other sister, Brittany posted this:
At this point, all that was really known was that Hannah was last seen by her mom, in their home, at about 2am. Hannah couldn’t sleep and went outside to take a walk and possibly walk to the barn. They live on a country road that’s considered very safe.
On July 25th, 2020 it was announced that the FBI had gotten involved in the search for Hannah Potts. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if Hannah Potts had been abducted early the morning of July 24th, but there were also some red flags. I already mentioned my feelings about the lack of a text being sent or a call being made but I also wondered about the 3+ hours between the time Hannah was last seen going outside and when she made the live video announcing her abduction. If she was in the trunk after she was taken, why didn’t she attempt to contact anyone right away?
The video was eventually leaked but originally, Hannah’s family didn’t want it shared because of family issues that she had mentioned in the video. In the video, Hannah stated “You got to tell the cops everything. You gotta show them this video so that maybe they can find me.”
Partial audio of Hannah Potts’ abduction video
While pinging Hannah’s phone, police saw that the last known location of Hannah’s phone was about a mile and a half away from her home at about 7 a.m. When the phone was pinged again at 7 p.m., the phone seemed to be in the same exact place. During the investigation, it was learned that Hannah had recently become friends with a 34 year old woman named Maria Hopper who lived just about a mile from Hannah’s home. When they contacted Maria, she claimed that she hadn’t seen Hannah and was trying to call her cell phone.
Once Hannah’s phone records were subpoenaed, her text messages gave a much clearer understanding of what actually happened. Sgt. Ballard from the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office saw texts between Maria Hopper and Hannah Potts that showed they were making plans for Hannah to be picked up the morning of her “abduction”. The text messages also gave the description of the car that would pick her up and showed that Hannah planned to turn off the location on her phone.
On the morning of July 26th, Sgt. Ballard and some deputies headed to Maria Hopper’s house. They spoke with her and her boyfriend, 45 year old Joshua Thomas. Hopper again denied seeing or hearing from Hannah. Sgt. Ballard asked Hopper if he could search her house and although she denied that Hannah was there, she also gave permission for him to do the search.
Now, I’m not sure what Maria Hopper was thinking at this moment or if she was thinking at all, because when Ballard did the search he noticed a stairway in the kitchen. Hopper informed him that the stairs went down to a partial basement but said there wasn’t anything down there and then she led him down the stairs. In the basement, there was a small space that was blocked by a piece of plywood with a lock on it. Hopper told Ballard that the space was full of spiders. As Sgt. Ballard undid the latch on the plywood, Maria Hopper confessed that Hannah was hiding inside. Well, what did she expect was going to happen when she agreed to let Sgt. Ballard search her house? Did she think that nobody would notice the stairs leading to the basement?
According to the affidavit, Ballard reported that “After being ordered to show herself, Hannah Potts then uncovered herself from the back corner of the area. Hannah Potts was wearing a fully functioning handcuff on her right wrist, and also had fully functioning shackles binding her ankles.”
It turns out that Hannah Potts had planned all of this with the help of Hopper and Thomas. She told police that she was writing a manuscript and this plan was part of her research. She admitted that she had been planning her abduction and rehearsing the live video for at least a week. Hannah also clarified that she had shackled and handcuffed herself and that Hopper and Thomas had been giving her food, drinks and snacks. Maria Hopper admitted to lying to police and helping Hannah with her plan. Joshua Thomas admitted that he knew what was going on and that Hannah was hiding in the house.
On July 29th, 2020, Joshua Thomas was arrested on a warrant and released after paying a $650 cash bond. Warrants were issued for the arrests of Hannah Potts and Maria Hopper on Thursday July 30th, 2020 and they were both booked into jail that afternoon according to jail officials. Hopper was released after paying a $650 cash bond and Potts was released also on $650 cash bond shortly after midnight Friday. All 3 of them are charged with false informing in connection with the hoax abduction of Hannah Potts.
After Hannah was found and the hoax was exposed, her sister Brittany posted a public apology to Facebook saying, in part, “As news is getting out there about Hannah being found.. I need to make a public statement addressing it. I publicly disown nor want nothing to do with my sister going forward. She is dead to me. I hope she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My family feel extremely embarrassed and hurt by her actions, and the fact she tried pinning this on a person of color. I pray no black man with a maroon colored car was targeted due to her blantant (sic) lie.”
Hannah Potts caused her family, friends and strangers all across the country to be worried sick about her. She embarrassed her family and hurt her parents and siblings. She also cost the Gibson County Sheriff’s Office hours of manpower, investigative time and money while she sat in her friend’s basement eating snacks for her research.
I can completely understand the anger and hurt that her sister and other family members are feeling at this time. From what I understand, Hannah hasn’t told her family where she’s been staying since her release and after everything she’s put them through, I can’t say I blame her for wanting to keep her distance.
We will keep you updated with any new developments in this story and for more true crime and the scoop from our expert guests, check out our podcast The Good Wives Guide To True Crime and visit us on YouTube at Murder By Design.
Originally published at https://madgingerentertainment.com.
