Kansas woman's claim to be girl missing since 1986 a hoax, police say

THORNTOWN, Ind. -- A woman who called the parents of a missing girl and claimed she might be their long-lost daughter was charged Wednesday with committing a hoax.\nDonna L. Walker, 35, of Topeka, Kan., was charged with identity deception and false reporting. Her whereabouts were not known Wednesday, authorities said.\nWalker called the parents of Shannon Marie Sherrill, who vanished in 1986 at age 6 as she played hide-and-seek, and also is believed to have contacted news organizations to spread word about the possible break in the case, said state police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten.\nHe described her actions as a "cruel hoax."\nSherrill's father, William Michael Sherrill, who talked Saturday with the woman, was told about 15 minutes before the news conference that the call was a hoax, Bursten said.\nSherrill broke down in tears when asked about the news.\n"I wasn't expecting this at all," he said. "I thought they were going to bring Shannon in here."\nWalker faces a felony charge of identity deception and a misdemeanor charge of false reporting, Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer said. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.\n"I am very disappointed the case has taken this turn," Meyer said. "The case I want to prosecute was the case of an abductor and the happy ending is the child coming home. Unfortunately that's not the closing argument I get to make."\nAuthorities had planned DNA tests to determine whether the woman was the child.\nShannon vanished Oct. 5, 1986, outside her mother's mobile home in Thorntown, about 30 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Hundreds of people scoured fields and wooded lots for three days after the disappearance.\nWilliam Michael Sherrill and the girl's mother, Dorothy Sherrill, were divorced at the time of their daughter's disappearance but were not involved in any custody dispute.\nJody Ames, an aunt of Sherrill's, said the last several days had been draining on the family.\n"It's been a very big roller coaster," she said. "We've been up and down, we've hoped for the best. We still hope for the best. We can only hope and pray."\nTopeka police Lt. John Sidwell said officers there were helping in the search for Walker.\n"We've had no contact with the suspect," Sidwell said. "We're continuing to look for her."\nBursten said he expected Walker would soon be arrested.\n"We know who she is, she can't hide forever," he said. "Now the rest of the country will know what she's accused of and what she's done."\nBursten said Walker had given three different fictitious names to investigators in recent days.\n"We don't know what her motivation was and it is impossible for us to guess," Bursten said. "We live in an age today where people like to receive attention"