A woman who made headlines across the US after being disfigured in an acid attack has admitted that she made the whole story up and threw the acid on herself, dpa cited news reports as saying Friday. Bethany Storro, 28, claimed that her injuries came from an attack by an unidentified African-American woman last month outside a Starbucks coffee shop in Portland, Oregon. "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?" her alleged attacker was said to have asked before dousing her with the acid. But as they investigated the crime, police began to find holes in her story, and under questioning by detectives Thursday she admitted to making up the story and dousing her own face with acid, The Oregonian newspaper reported. Police did not release a motive for her self-inflicted attack, but news reports said that Storro was recently divorced. "It's obvious to everybody here that she's got a fragile mental state," Commander Marla Schuman, who helped lead the investigation, was quoted as saying. Police became suspicious of Storro's initial story after no witnesses could be found who saw her attacker. The pattern of acid splash marks appeared to be more consistent with the liquid being rubbed or poured on her face. In addition, Storro had bought the sunglasses which shielded her eyes from the acid just 20 minutes before the alleged attack, which ate away the tip of her nose and badly damaged her cheeks, chin and forehead. Storro could now face charges of falsifying a police report.
