One of the early surprises of Signing Day was five-star running back and Arkansas commit Alex Collins being absent from his school's signing ceremony.

Collins, the No. 3 running back in Scout.com's class, committed Monday night during a live TV announcement on FOX Sports South but failed to show up Wednesday morning, causing mass Internet speculation and setting off a drama that, as of Wednesday night, was still unresolved.

The reasons for the absence? His mother doesn't want him to go to Arkansas.

Sources confirmed to Scout.com National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Newberg the early reports that Collins' mother, Andrea McDonald, refused to sign her son's Letter of Intent, confiscated it and left the school.

She apparently did so because she would prefer that the 18-year-old Collins attend Miami (FL), where he was once a commit. By rule, anyone under the age of 21 needs the signature of a parent or legal guardian for the Letter of Intent to be official.

"She’s having anxiety," Alex Collins' brother, Johnny, told the Miami Herald. "I know she preferred him to go to (Miami). Alex had said he was going to the U, and then all of a sudden he changes his mind. We found out he was going to Arkansas on TV.

"They still needed her signature. You can’t sign yourself over. It’s in black and white. But I didn’t expect any of this to happen. I’m as confused as everyone else."

Alex Collins has not commented publicly, but he did send a tweet this afternoon saying, "Everything is gonna be alright."

So will Collins flip back to Miami? CBSSports.com reported, citing a source, that he was still expected to end up at Arkansas by day's end.

Earlier in the day, the athletic director at Collins' high school in Plantation, Fla. -- in the greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale area -- told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel that “more due diligence needs to be done on the family’s side of things,” and confirmed that Collins had not signed a Letter of Intent. He did not go into specifics.

South Plantation head football coach Doug Gatewood was also absent from the signing ceremony and has not been reached for comment.

Collins admitted Monday that he hadn't decided for sure on Arkansas until moments before making his announcement, saying no one besides him knew what the decision would be.

Twitter was soon alive with the rumor that the mysterious disappearance was because his mother was preventing Collins from sending in the Letter of Intent.

John Franklin, one of Collins' high school teammates, indicated to the Sun-Sentinel that something was amiss.

"It’s just a stressful time for him right now," Franklin said, according to the paper. "Some things happened that I’d rather not speak about because it’s his business. I don't want to put it out there."

It remains to be seen how the situation will resolve, but it's still rough news for new Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema. Collins is the only five-star player on the Razorbacks' current list of commits.

Video: Collins' Monday commitment