The court papers said the calls came from the same number, and "Sarah" said the phone belonged to a cousin in Colorado. The FBI traced the calls through phone records and eventually pointed Texas Rangers to Rozita Swinton's apartment in Colorado Springs.

The affidavit revealed that one number called the Snohomish County Shelter for Battered Women in Washington approximately 28 times from March 29 to April 12. That same number called the Newbridge Family Shelter in San Angelo 16 times from March 29 to April 5. Another number linked to Swinton called the shelter another seven times.

Colorado Springs police wrote they had already been investigating Swinton for a series of hoax calls including one in October 2007 where a 13-year-old girl named "Dana" said a youth pastor had sexually abused her. After days of phone calls with the hysterical girl who said she'd been locked in a basement, drugged and sexually abused by her father, police started linking the phone number to other calls in Longmont and Pueblo, Colo., where false reports of sex abuse had been made.

In September 2006, Colorado Springs Rampart High School counselor Catherine DiNuzzo called police about a girl named "April" who claimed her uncle was taking her to an abortion clinic. The counselor agreed to meet with "April" in front of the school. Police wrote that when DiNuzzo called the number, she saw a black woman answer the phone and run away.

Police also spoke to "April" several times, but the girl refused to talk to her face-to-face. Those calls continued through 2007, where numerous officers and and shelters received similar calls. Each time the phone numbers appeared to be the same.

In November 2007, police wrote that "April" — now going as "V," called DiNuzzo again and "congratulated Ms. DiNuzzo on having a baby and what a good mother she was. She advised 'V' told her she had seen her and her family out shopping. 'V' began calling Ms. DiNuzzo on a regular basis at work and home."

A new personality?

On Feb. 26, 2008, "Jennifer" called Colorado Springs 911 and said she was "locked in her basement since Friday because she had gotten in trouble," the affidavit states. Officers spent hours going door-to-door through neighborhoods searching for the girl.

It was in one of the neighborhoods during the search that officers spoke to Jennifer Pierce, who was a counselor at the Trust, Education, Safety, Support and Action — a domestic violence shelter in Colorado Springs.

"Ms. Pierce asked if officers were looking for a female claiming to be locked in a basement," Thrumston wrote. "Ms. Pierce advised she knew who officers were looking for."

That led police to "Dana" and the same phone number.