ACID ATTACK HOAX

A Vancouver, Wash., woman attacked with acid on her way to a Starbucks coffee shop says she could feel her face sizzling as her skin began to burn.

"It was the most painful thing," 28-year-old Bethany Storro told reporters. "My heart stopped. I almost passed out. Once it hit me, I could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling on my skin."

Storro was getting something out of her car outside a Starbucks on Aug. 30 when she saw a woman, around her own age, standing before her and heard the chilling words that would change her life: "Hey, pretty little girl, want to take a drink of this?"

Then, inexplicably, the woman threw a cup of acid-like liquid in Storro's face, sending her screaming out in pain in the middle of the busy street. Passers-by rushed to her aid and called 911.

Storro had just moved to Vancouver, just north of Portland, Ore., to be with her parents after living in Idaho. She said she had never seen her attacker before that day. Police say the bizarre and horrific acid assault -- far more common in other areas of the world -- appears to be random. There are so far no suspects, and the motive remains unclear.

The acid was so strong that parts of Storro's shirt simply disintegrated, The Oregonian reported. Doctors said Storro suffered second-degree burns all over her face -- except, fortunately, on her eyes, which were protected by a pair of sunglasses she bought less than an hour before the attack. Doctors said the glasses may have saved her eyesight.

"I had this feeling that I need to go buy sunglasses," she said, according to KPTV in Oregon. "It's hard finding sunglasses that are cute. I finally found a pair that I liked, so I went and bought them. That was 20 minutes before the acid was thrown in my face."

But the excruciating pain didn't stop Storro -- who is hard of hearing because of two bouts of spinal meningitis she suffered as a child -- from joking around Thursday night in front of family members and reporters.

"Oh, my gosh, to be hard of hearing and blind? That would drive them nuts," she said of her parents. "They have to be in the same room for me to hear them. I'm just so glad it's a miracle."

Her father, Joe Neuwelt, was less jovial. "You can imagine how I feel," he said. "This is my little girl." Her mother, Nancy Neuwelt, called the attack "an act of evil," according to The Associated Press.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• A Washington state woman made up her claim of an attacker throwing acid, police say
• Bethany Storro, who was hospitalized, and now may face charges
• Police conducted search of her residence
Read more about this story at CNN affiliate KATU.
(CNN) -- A 28-year-old woman who said an unknown assailant threw a cup of caustic liquid in her face has admitted her injuries were self-inflicted, Vancouver, Washington, police said Thursday.
Bethany Storro was being interviewed by detectives, and whether she will be charged will be up to prosecutors, police said.

"She is extremely upset," said police Commander Marla Schuman. "She is very remorseful. In many ways it got bigger than she expected."
Police would not speculate on Storro's motives, only saying the August 30 incident did not occur as she described and that there were discrepancies in her account, including wearing sunglasses in the evening.

They also had questions about the liquid's splash patterns on Storro's face.
Officers acquired a search warrant and conducted a search Thursday morning. They removed several undisclosed items, but said they did not find a substance that might have caused her injuries.

Vancouver had searched for an assailant, described as an African-American woman with an athletic build and slicked-back hair pulled into a pony tail.
Storro was released from an Oregon hospital on September 5 after undergoing surgery for her injuries after the alleged attack.
Police spent hundreds of hours on the case and the community came together to offer donations for Storro's treatment.

"It has had an impact on our community," said Police Chief Clifford Cook. "It has brought negative attention on our community that is undeserved."
Storro's family was also being interviewed, police said. They described her as being in a fragile mental state.Storro credited a new pair of sunglasses -- which she said she bought just 20 minutes before the attack -- with saving her eyesight.

"God is watching over me," Storro, of Vancouver, told CNN affiliate KATU in Portland, Oregon, at the time. "I believe in him. That his hands are on me and I can't live the rest of my life like that -- in fear. I can't let what she did to me wreck my life."

Storro told KATU that she had stopped at a Vancouver Starbucks about 7:15 p.m., just after she had gone back to buy a pair of sunglasses that she had seen earlier. The woman walked up to her and said, "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?"
When Storro declined, the woman threw the contents of the cup in her face and ran off, Storro claimed at the time.

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