Mother fakes daughter's death in order to extend her vacation

A mother, who is a parent coordinator at Manhattan High School of Hospitality Management in New York, faked her daughter’s death in order to receive some additional time off.

In 2010, Joan Barnett appeared to be desperate to extend her spring break so she could spend some more time in Costa Rica and stay for a few extra weeks. According to the New York Daily, Barnett had one of her daughters call her bosses at the school. The daughter proceeded to tell them that her sister suffered a heart attack while in Costa Rica. Sources say that Barnett also forged her daughter’s death certificate. She did this so she could qualify for bereavement. She told school officials that she needed to attend her daughter’s funeral and that’s why she needed bereavement. According to the Los Angeles Times, the investigation into Barnett started after she sent over the forged death certificate. Officials said that the name on the death certificate didn’t really seem to relate to Barnett, and the fonts were different sizes. The death certificate actually ended up belonging to a man who died years earlier. Barnett ended up confessing being charged with misdemeanor forgery charges after she confessed that she lied to school investigators, according to reports that were circulating on Tuesday. As of now it is unclear if Barnett will be facing any other charges on top forgery.