MISSING STUDENT CASE Cops suggest abduction was hoax

Police said the college student had changed her story about the abduction.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Police strongly suggested Friday that a college student's tale of being kidnapped at knife-point was a hoax, saying she researched places to hide and bought a knife, rope and duct tape to make her disappearance look like an abduction.
"We do not believe there is a suspect at large, period," Assistant Police Chief Noble Wray said.
University of Wisconsin sophomore Audrey Seiler, 20, was found cold and dehydrated but otherwise unharmed Wednesday in a marsh, four days after she disappeared. She told police she had been abducted from outside her apartment about two miles away, but surveillance video showed her walking out of the apartment wearing only sweats.
Investigators also obtained a videotape from weeks earlier showing Seiler buying the knife, duct tape, rope and cold medicine that she said her abductor used to restrain her.
Other evidence
Wray said Seiler used her computer to search Web sites for information about Madison parks and the extended weather forecast. In addition, he said, evidence indicated someone had used the computer during the four days she was missing, and at least two witnesses said they had seen her walking freely in the city during that time.
Wray declined to speculate on Seiler's motivation or her mental state, and he said it was too soon to say whether she could face charges. Authorities are trying to construct a time line of her movements, he said.
Seiler also reported an unexplained attack in early February, telling police that someone struck her from behind and knocked her unconscious.
Wray disclosed Friday that Seiler had changed her story about last weekend's supposed abduction. She said she was abducted by a knife-wielding man -- but from somewhere else in the city, not from her apartment, as she first said.
"Audrey stated that she just wanted to quote, unquote, be alone," Wray said.
Seiler has been in seclusion with her parents since her release from a hospital Wednesday. A phone call to a listing for them in their hometown of Rockford, Minn., was not immediately returned.
Expressed doubts
On Thursday, Wray had acknowledged to reporters that "there may be inconsistencies" in the case. But he said then that the hunt was still on for a suspected abductor, and police issued a composite sketch based on Seiler's account.
On Friday, he said police were obligated to pursue the case fully despite their doubts.