Police in Sydney hunting for an intruder who placed a fake collar bomb around a wealthy teenager’s neck reveal that it was a “very, very elaborate hoax.”
Investigators have revealed that the masked intruder who broke into 18 year-old Madeleine Pulver’s home in the Sydney suburb of Mosman attached the device and left a ransom note signed by a fictional character.
The note pinned to her chest was signed by “Dirk Struan”, the central character in James Clavell’s novel Tai-Pan.
It reportedly made no demands for money but warned Madeleine, a Year 12 student at North Sydney’s prestigious girls’ school Wenona, not to call police or tamper with the shoebox-sized device or it would blow up.
The device – which investigators now know contained no explosives – took 10 hours to detach and led to an evacuation of the Mosman suburb on Wednesday.
Detectives, who call the drama “a very unsual case”, are now investigating whether her father, a wealthy CEO, was the target of an extortion plot.
The family returned home just after 8pm on Wednesday. Ms Pulver’s father, William, said that – despite her 10-hour ordeal as four bomb experts worked to X-ray and identify it – she was in ”pretty good spirits”.
Timeline of events
14:30: Wednesday: William Pulver phones police
14:40: First officers arrive, put cordon in place
16:15: Bomb disposal unit called to scene
19:00: Firefighters enter house with oxygen masks
19:10: Police make public statement and appeal for information
00:00: Police announce Ms Pulver freed safely
”She is a little tired, a little sore from holding this damned device in place for about 10 hours,” Mr Pulver said.
”I can tell you that we as parents are extraordinarily proud of Maddie,” he continued.
His daughter wanted to thank the officers who helped her, including Constable Karen Lowden, who sat with her for more than three hours before investigators knew the device would not explode.
”Maddie particularly wanted to thank those few officers who spent many long hours sitting with her, showing little regard for their own personal safety in her immediate vicinity last night,” Mr Pulver said.