A North Carolina woman has been accused of faking her own murder after making anonymous reports she was missing to police and her friend.

Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, from Franklin in the west of the state, was arrested on Monday by local police.

Known to friends as Maggie, she has been charged with causing a false report to a police station, false report of death or serious injury by telephonic communication, and obstructing law enforcement officers.

She was reported missing the previous Friday - August 18 - and Franklin Police Department officers launched an immediate investigation due to information suggesting she was endangered or dead.

But Sweeney was located safely the next day in the next town over, police said.

Margaret Frances Elizabeth Sweeney, 37, from Franklin in North Carolina, was arrested on Monday by local police.

Sweeney was reported missing the previous Friday - August 18 - and Franklin Police Department officers launched an immediate investigation due to information suggesting she was endangered or dead

Sergeant Randy Dula continued the investigation and was able to determine that Sweeney allegedly made anonymous third-party false reports to a friend that she had been murdered.

'Sweeney's actions caused our department, as well as other departments, many hours of work which could have been spent on other matters,' FPD said.

'Family, friends, and the community as a whole were also very concerned and worried about Sweeney's welfare.'

Sweeney was described as 5 foot 5 inches in her police report - and cops have not given any indication as to what her motivation might have been.

She lives in a $145,900 home on Scruffie Drive, north Franklin.

She faces similar charges to Carlee Russell, who famously faked her own abduction and could now spend two years behind bars.

Spa therapist Russell, 25, claimed to have been abducted after allegedly disappearing for 49 hours from her home in Hoover, Alabama, on July 13.

The story of her disappearance went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Carlee Russell grinned in her mugshot last month after being arrested for faking her own abduction

After Russell 'disappeared' on July 13, her ex-boyfriend Thomar Simmons (pictured together) had posted frantic appeals for information on social media and then made a supportive post once Russell returned home. He has now spoken out to say he is 'disgusted' with her hoax

On July 24, she admitted that she had fabricated the story.

She has been charged with two misdemeanor charges of filing a false report and now faces up to two years in jail and $12,000 in fines.

Russell was released from jail on July 28 after posting a $2,000 bond and was seen grinning in her mugshot.