Indianapolis ? Ever since Donna Lynette Walker was a child, friends say, she has delighted in disrupting the lives of those around her: She made crank calls in disguised voices, concocted hard-luck stories and conned people out of money.

But even investigators familiar with Walker’s record are baffled by what they say was her latest hoax.

Authorities say that last weekend, Walker called the parents of a girl abducted 17 years ago and pretended to be their long-lost daughter. The girl’s family members were crushed, her father reduced to tears, when they learned on Wednesday that it was a lie.

Walker, 35, surrendered Thursday in Topeka, Kan., where she lives. She has been charged with identity deception and false reporting for committing what police called a “cruel hoax.”

Walker told ABC News she turned herself in because “it’s the right thing to do and I had nothing to hide.”

“I’m just confident that everything will come out in the court system,” she said.

A court hearing was scheduled today, during which bail would be set, said her attorney, Billy Rork.

Rork would not say where Walker had been during the past 24 hours. Her neighbors and landlord in Topeka said they had had no contact with her for at least the past several days.

Rork said Walker does not want to talk yet about the case, but she remains confident the judicial system will treat her fairly. Rork called the case “highly emotional.”

Shawnee County Sheriff Dick Barta said Walker was being held as a fugitive wanted on a warrant from another state; Barta does not expect Walker to be charged with a crime in Kansas.

Authorities hope Walker’s arrest will shed light on her motivation in allegedly committing the hoax. “We don’t think it was financial,” said Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten. “There was never any kind of request for money.”

Investigators said Walker may have found out details about the case of Shannon Marie Sherrill on the Internet, which contains several Web sites devoted to the girl’s abduction. Shannon was 6 when she vanished in 1986 while playing hide-and-seek near the family’s Indiana home.

Walker allegedly continued the ruse for days, calling Shannon’s family members, police and the news media to perpetuate the story — often disguising her voice and posing as at least two other people. Investigators believe she even pretended to be the husband of the missing girl.

Police began to doubt Walker’s claims only when she would not provide them with numbers to reach her.

Dorothy Sherrill, Shannon’s mother, said she was relieved to hear of Walker’s arrest and hoped she would be sent back to Indiana to “get everything she deserves.” Despite the hoax, she said, “I’m not going to give up on my daughter.”

Days into the investigation, police have discovered a disturbing pattern of deceit by Walker.

Court records and interviews indicate she has had brushes with the law in California, Kansas, Virginia and Nebraska involving such offenses as making crank calls, reporting a false fire alarm, writing bad checks, making a bomb threat and using stolen credit cards to run up long-distance charges, according to an Indiana State Police affidavit.

In Urbandale, Iowa, an arrest warrant was issued for Walker last August for making a string of “weird calls” to police reporting to have seen people assaulted at gunpoint. Police never verified the calls, said Urbandale Police Sgt. Dave Disney.

“We had concerns for Walker’s mental state, just from all the calls she was making,” Disney said. “She’s a strange one.”

In a hearing Tuesday to charge Walker, Indiana State Police Lt. Jeff Heck said a 1992 homicide investigation report from Virginia Beach, Va., indicated Walker might have “multiple personalities and is capable of talking in a male voice.”

In Evansville, Daniel Keith helped Walker when she first moved to the city. Keith said she claimed to have fled an abusive relationship, and he allowed her to run up $13,000 in credit card charges.

“She’s very convincing,” Keith said. “She talked me into getting credit cards for her, and I was dumb enough to do it.”

Like many who knew Walker through the years, he is bewildered by the latest charges.

“There had to be something in it for her,” Keith said. “She did nothing, at least that was my take of her six years ago, she did nothing unless there was something in it for her.”