Missing mom found; admits to staging disappearance

Police say a woman reported missing from a Lakewood farmer’s market on Tuesday night has been found safe. She admitted to staging her disappearance.

Moua Vang, wife and mother of six, is a regular flower vendor at the Lakewood Farmer’s Market and was closing up her stand Tuesday evening when she “disappeared.”

Family members last heard from Vang at 4:30 p.m. Her van was found in disarray at the market about four hours later. Her keys and phone were found inside.

Vang told police she made it look like an abduction so she could leave her family.

“She actually flew to Thailand and then had second thoughts and on her own volition, flew back to Seattle,” said Lt. John Unfred with the Lakewood Police Department.

“She was obviously planning this for quite some time,” he said. “She had saved up quite a bit of money in order to do this and obviously had quite the plan put together.”

No one else was involved in her disappearance. Vang arraigned for a ride from an airport shuttle company, according to Unfred.

Police say Vang arrived to Sea-Tac Airport on Thursday night with the help of Homeland Security.

Vang was committed to a mental health facility after making comments about suicide, according to police.

“She was in some sort of crisis that led her to do this,” Unfred said, noting that it’s likely that family problems played a large part in her actions.