Two Texas women have been charged after allegedly staging the kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl to avoid responsibility for financial troubles.

KBMT-TV reports that 25-year-old Tiffany Hawkins and her mother, 38-year-old Shantha Springer, both of Beaumont, were arrested earlier this month after police say Springer took photos of her daughter and 7-year-old granddaughter bound with duct tape in the trunk of a car, then told police the pair had been kidnapped.

Police, dispatchers, and volunteers then went searching for Hawkins and her daughter. Once they found the two, they began asking questions, and that's when police became suspicious.

Authorities say Hawkins and Springer staged the kidnapping in order to explain missing money to Hawkins' boyfriend.

Hawkins and Springer bonded out of jail, and Child Protective Services opened an investigation. However, the 7-year-old was not removed from Hawkins' home.

Hawkins released a handwritten apology to the media, and said she hopes to one day win back the trust of friends and family. Both women were charged with filing a false report.

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