The Soldier Hoax: Cheryl King arrived at the Howard County police station to report what seemed an unconscionable prank: Someone had posted a message in her name on Howard High School's alumni Web site claiming that her son had been killed by terrorists in the Middle East. As word spread through the Ellicott City alma mater of Army Pvt. Ryan King on Tuesday, students openly wept, and King's former junior ROTC instructor called the soldier's mother to offer condolences. It took an alarmed Cheryl King several hours to determine that the report was a hoax, police and school officials said. But as she sat in the police station Tuesday night, filling out forms, her cell phone rang: It was her son, alive and well in Korea, calling to saythat he was the one who had posted the message, according to police.