The Ghana Police Service have revealed in a press statement issued on Friday, that Josephine Panyin Mensah, the lady who was alleged to be pregnant but went missing has confessed that she was neither pregnant nor kidnapped.

“The suspect, Josephine Panyin Mensah, 28, has confessed to the Police during further investigations and stated that neither was she pregnant nor ever being kidnapped. The public will be updated with further details,” a statement from the Police says.

Background

Josephine Mensah was reported to have gone missing on the 16th September, 2021 after she went on a walk at dawn.

She was reported to be carrying a 9-month-old pregnancy at the time she went missing.

Reports later suggested she had been kidnapped but was found in Axim on September 21, 2024.

She was reported to have been found by a carpenter in Axim but when she was subjected to medical examination it emerged she was never pregnant in the first place.

The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah disclosed that a preliminary observation by a doctor on her has shown that she was not pregnant, neither was she kidnapped as earlier reported.

Subsequently, the Regional Minister has asked the police to investigate the woman, husband and the mother.

The Ghana Police Service said over 40 police officers were assigned to track the whereabouts of the victim, and the family were given regular updates on police operations regarding this issue.

After her reappearance, police say the woman has moved from being a “victim to a suspect.”

Three other persons have since been picked up for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, the husband of the woman, Michael Simmons, was also interrogated on Thursday and again called on Friday morning to the Takoradi Central Police Command for further interrogation to determine his involvement in the alleged fake pregnancy and kidnapping.