Disappearing on Jan 1, 1753, Canning reemerged after 28 days with allegations that she had been abducted and held prisoner in a failed attempt to coerce her to become a prostitute. As Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster, Henry Fielding heard Canning's accusations, and convinced of her veracity, Fielding issued a warrant for her abusers’ arrest. Subsequent recanting by some witnesses left Canning accused of perjury and unleashed a flood of accounts, accusations, and counteraccusations in the popular press, including John Hill’s The Story of Elizabeth Canning Considered (1753). In 1754, despite fairly evenly divided opinion among both the public and the court, Canning was convicted of perjury and transported to Wethersfield, Connecticut, where she met and married John Treat, had a family, and lived the remainder of her life. The case has continued to draw adherents on both sides of the question of Canning's guilt into the 20th century.