A bearded individual identifying as a woman was arrested on charges of making bomb threats on social media.
Lily Mestemacher was arrested in Conway, Arkansas, after police in Oxford, Mississippi found a threatening social media post that they traced back to the suspect, Action News 5 reported.
Mestemacher, despite being over 200 miles away in Arkansas, allegedly threatened to plant a bomb in Oxford on Jan. 31.
After searching the Oxford area where the bomb threat was targeted and finding no threat present, investigators said they tracked Mestemacher to be the one who issued the threat.
Oxford police issued a warrant for Mestemacher’s arrest on charges of false reporting of placing explosives. Conway police arrested and extradited Mestemacher to Oxford on Feb. 10.
Investigators tracked the social media threat back to Lily Mestemacher in Conway, Arkansas.
https://t.co/kzS397zsYP— Action News 5 (@WMCActionNews5) February 13, 2023
Mestemacher’s bond was set at $50,000 by a Lafayette County Justice Court judge. (RELATED: Prank Gone Wrong: Employee Reportedly Arrested For Calling In Bomb Threat For Co-Worker At Gas Station)
Earlier this month, a bomb threat forced the trial of Alex Murdaugh to be temporarily paused as the court building was evacuated, Daily Caller previously reported.
A person who sounded like a male called in the bomb threat but his identity has not been found yet. Police dogs swept the courthouse before city staff and attorneys were able to enter again after the nearly three-hour-long delay.
18 U.S.C. § 35(b) states that malicious bomb threats or hoaxes prescribe “maximum penalties of $5,000 or five years imprisonment or both for conveying or imparting false information willfully and maliciously or with reckless disregard for the safety of human life.”