Mother pretended to be country star Luke Bryan to fake daughter’s kidnapping: police

Luke Bryan performs on the main stage during CMA Fest 2025 at Nissan Stadium on June 08, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage)WireImage

In a wild story out of Arkansas, Tamara “Tammi” Hamby, a former country library board member, was arrested after police said she pretended to be country music star Luke Bryan and faked the kidnapping of her mentally disabled daughter.

According to 5 News, Hamby, who turned herself in on Dec. 3, was one of four people arrested in the incident.

But Hamby and her husband, Jeffrey Hamby, who is a doctor, claim that there was no criminal intent.

Jeffrey Hamby, who was not among those arrested, said he and his wife adopted their daughter when she was just six weeks old.

“She has a lot of needs,” he told 5 News. “She has a reactive attachment disorder and epilepsy. She is 22 and beautiful and has the mind of about an 11-year-old.”

The doctor said the issues began six months ago when his daughter was approached by a predator online who pretended to be Bryan.

“My daughter adores (Bryan),” he said. “So, over the last six months, he’s developed somewhat of a trauma bond.”

He claimed that even though they took their daughter’s devices away she kept finding ways to talk to the predator. He claimed they reached out to police but didn’t receive any help.

“We tried everything, and she has not stopped communicating with him, and he was going to get her,” he said. “He was going to take her. And so, my wife, without my knowledge, with her aide and a couple of friends, tried to do an intervention.”

Police said it as a bit more than an intervention, though.

According to 5 News, the warrant for Tammi Hamby’s arrest said that she had someone pretend to be Bryan and contact her daughter to set up a meet. Police said she then had two men take the girl into a field on Nov. 17 where they tied her to a tree and demanded money.

Police said the men — who they identified as David Qbao and Nico Austria — took the girl to the wrong field, though. And, at some point, she was able to free herself and make a run for it before they tackled her and retired her to the tree, per police.

The girl escaped again, however, and called 911.

“(The girl) was in fear for her life and clung tightly to a teddy bear the entirety of me speaking with her during the interview,” a deputy noted in the report.

Police said that Tammi Hamby was watching the whole time.

She resigned from her library board job on Nov. 24, per 5 News.

“Now DHS has taken my daughter from me, and my wife is arrested for trying to do the right thing, for trying to save my daughter, who has never known evil, has been sheltered all of her life, and we couldn’t talk her into understanding that danger existed,” Jeffrey Hamby told the station. “And so, we wanted to show her that evil does exist, and now she’s in DHS custody today, and my wife is facing jail time.”

Crawford County Prosecutor Kevin Holmes had a different view of the situation.

“The law enforcement that I deal with are always willing to help, as in our office,” Holmes said. “And so, this idea that we’re blaming law enforcement is pretty ridiculous. Just because there’s suspicious activity, doesn’t just allow us to just go out and start rounding up people. You know, parents have some responsibility. I mean, this is a special needs girl who if there’s issues with the internet, then you just cut her off from the internet.”