I neglected to mention this wire story from Pittsburgh recently, which freaked me out for several minutes. As I read the story I was thinking how bizarre it was, and then I see the sentence “my name is not Nikki Allen.”
I only know one person in Pittsburgh, and her name is Nikki Allen. She, like the girl in the story, is 24.
After a quick search of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the girl’s picture, and it wasn’t my friend. Here’s her myspace page and livejournal. Still a weird way to start your day. The story is developing into something truly weird.