Police: Teacher faked abduction

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A teacher with political ambitions who apparently fabricated threats against himself and staged an abduction was found in Maryland, Philadelphia police said.

Investigators said Bismark Agbemble, 29, who reportedly was planning a run against U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., told his girlfriend, father and a friend Tuesday he had been threatened by two men on the street, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Friday.

Agbemble spent the night at a relative's house, but friends and family became concerned when he didn't show up to teach the next day at ITT Technical Institute, and discovered his house had been ransacked and threatening graffiti sprayed on the walls.

Capt. Benjamin Naish of Southwest Detectives said Agbemble's cell phone had been turned off and a new message "suggested he was being held against his will."

However, the missing man's phone turned on Thursday and police discovered Agbemble outside a Glen Burnie, Md., hotel where he was staying.

Naish said investigators now believe the "whole thing had been made up, that the threats were not real."

Police sources said they are looking into reports that Agbemble has recently suffered from mental health problems.