Update: Aussie ‘Collar Bomb’ Turns Out to Be a Fake
- Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:43am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
SYDNEY (AP) — Police were hunting Thursday for a masked man who chained a fake bomb to a young woman‘s neck after breaking into her wealthy family’s home in an extortion attempt that Australia’s prime minister said resembled “a Hollywood script.”
In a climactic scene late Wednesday, bomb squad specialists safely freed Madeleine Pulver after 10 harrowing hours with the device attached around her neck. The 18-year-old was not hurt and police later determined the device contained no explosives.
A note of demands had been attached to the device, New South Wales state Police Detective Superintendent Luke Moore said, though he declined to specify what the demands were.
“We are treating this as an attempted extortion – a very serious attempted extortion,” Moore said.
William Pulver, right, makes a statement as his wife Belinda listens in Sydney, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, a day after their daughter Madeleine was chained to a fake bomb for 10 hours. (Photo: AP)
The drama began on Wednesday afternoon in the upscale Sydney suburb of Mosman when Pulver’s family contacted police saying their daughter had been attacked and there was a strange device attached to her. Bomb technicians, negotiators and detectives rushed to the scene. Neighboring homes were evacuated, streets were closed and medical and fire crews waited nearby.
Pulver told police a man wearing a mask broke into her home and confronted her while she was in the kitchen. The teen said the man forced her to stay still while he fitted the device to her neck, and then fled. When officials arrived on the scene, they found Pulver alone in the house with the suspicious device tethered to her neck by a chain.
The family lives in one of Sydney’s ritziest areas and her father, William Pulver, is CEO of an information technology company. On Thursday, he fought back tears as he talked about his daughter’s horrifying ordeal.
“We as parents are extraordinarily proud of Maddy,” William Pulver said, his equally tearful wife Belinda at his side. “I think she has woken up this morning in pretty good spirits. She’s a little tired, a little sore, from holding this damned device in place for about 10 hours.”
Forensics officers spent Wednesday night combing through the family’s three-story home and scouring the surrounding streets for evidence. Moore said they had not identified a prime suspect and are trying to figure out how the man got into the house.
“We are treating this as an individual incident,” Moore said. “We have absolutely no information to suggest this is linked to any other crime.”
New South Wales state Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said the device was quite sophisticated and was designed to look like a bomb as part of a “very, very elaborate hoax.”
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was shocked when she heard about the case on Thursday.
“When I looked at it this morning, the first thing I said was, ‘It’s like a Hollywood script – the kind of thing you would see at the cinema or on TV,’” Gillard told Fairfax Radio. “You would never expect it to happen in real life in Australia.”
Pulver was examined and released from a Sydney hospital on Thursday. Students at the private girls’ school she attends were being offered counseling.
“The school community is united behind the student and her family, and we thank God that she is not hurt,” Wenona School officials said in a statement.
Comments (19)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 590 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 414 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 379 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 375 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 414 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 379 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know 100 Comments- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 303 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 415 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Attention2Detail
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:29pmThere are some sick b*****ds commenting on this site. How do you make the leap from the very sophisticated bomb comtained no explosives, to the teenage girl did it. If you take a little time to think about it, there are not many 18 year olds who could design a device that would keep a professional bomb squad stumped for 10 hours. But instead of thinking,some of you geniuses assume the absolute worst case. This kind of thinking says more about you than the girl.
Report Post »Ready2Rumble
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 5:46pmThis stinks….could it be that the girl was in on this attempt to extort money from daddy?
Report Post »zoro51
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:53amJAIL HER ASS for this crap anything else is giving permission to do it to another. for what?? fame.. glamour. MONEY?>>?? what a loseing fish!! she IS.. austraila can keep that kind of gutter trash
Report Post »becker88
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:11amAt least it was nothing.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »Shrink the State
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:30amI guess guilty until prove innocent is your motto — moron!
Report Post »Dagney77
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:50pmZoro51, your writing is so awful and your reasoning so asinine that I suggest you refrain from putting in your two cents in the future. With all due respect, you make the readers of this site look bad.
Report Post »ZengaPA65
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 1:58pmReading is Fundamental, or at least listening to the video :p
Report Post »applehill
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 7:06pmThey didn’t say she was involved, just that the device was fake.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:50am.
Report Post »Glad she’s ok. But me thinks she might have been in on it………………..
PATRIOTMAMA
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:24amOK. Down with the whole Democrat thing on this story. Come on!! That’s just as bad as saying that all white Christians are like the Norway shooter. Crazy is crazy and has no allegencies or loyalty. I admit that I feel that the liberal and mostly Democrat ideology is crazy. But this is an incident that you can’t blame on ideology. This sounds initially like a simple case of greed and the lengths that people will go to to get what they want. Simply put….Evil is evil and comes in many many different faces.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:27amMost crazy people would fit into either extremist group, left and right, or none…they’re just plain crazy.
Report Post »BlazingBlaze
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:17amI agree with the Prime Minister; this has “bad Hollywood script” written all over it.
I also think there is some kind of “understory” to this tale. Think about it: what do “crop circles” and “ballon boy” have in common? They are both hoaxes done by people trying to get their handiwork into the news.
I am hoping this police department can get to the bottom of it.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:58amI will not be shocked if it comes to light that she was in on it.
Report Post »Bluefish49
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:12amI agree…I commented yesterday that it all sounded fishy to me. I wouldn‘t be surprised to find out the girl and possibly a boyfriend planned it all to support someone’s little drug habit.
Report Post »LRC
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 9:13amI thought the same thing.
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:55amOFF w/ HER HEAD!!! just kidding but goes well w/ the issue – HA!
Report Post »I_Hate_Libs
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 8:50amDemocrats will use any and all means to get your money and this is just another example.
The horror of the Democrat mind.
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 10:36amTake drugs. Really, I mean it, just you, I_Hate_Libs. Take lots of drugs.
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on August 4, 2011 at 11:03amI_Hate_Libs -
You may hate libs, it’s your right. But it would also be helpful to actually read the story, maybe? It happened in AUSTRALIA, not the U.S.
From Wikipedia:
Politics in Australia since 1900 saw the rapid and early rise of a party representing organized, non-revolutionary workers, the Australian Labor Party. Those political interests not involved in a socialist agenda coalesced into two main parties: a centre-right party with a base in business and the middle classes that has been predominantly socially conservative, now the Liberal Party of Australia; and a rural or agrarian conservative party, now the National Party of Australia. While there are a small number of other political parties that have achieved parliamentary representation, these main three dominate organized politics everywhere in Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Australia
There may be people who would be considered “liberal” in the American sense of the word down there, but there is no DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Report Post »