Baby in lough may not have existed

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BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 11 (UPI) -- A woman who claimed she fell from a ferry with her 9-day-old baby in her arms was arrested in Northern Ireland and police said there might have been no baby.

Tracey Dawn Burns of Belfast, who was arrested Thursday, could be charged with wasting police time, The Sun reported. Her story -- after she was pulled from Belfast Lough late Wednesday afternoon -- that her baby was missing led to a massive air and sea search that involved several Coast Guard agencies.

Burns, 37, was on a Belfast-bound Stena Line ferry from Cairnryan, Scotland, when she fell or jumped from the boat as it neared the dock. At least one friend suggests Burns, a mother of six, may not have had a newborn baby at all.

"She said she had given birth to a wee boy called Mackenzie McCann on April 30," the friend said. "But the picture she posted of him on Facebook looked like a plastic baby."

Another friend said Burns reported she gave birth to the child in a Belfast hospital and was then airlifted to Liverpool because of complications.