Girl Admits She Made Up ‘Kidnaping’

Four hours of intense searching Saturday for “a kidnaper” ended abruptly when the alleged victim, a 12-year-old girl, admitted she had made up the story.

Sheriff’s Deputy Jay Mendez said the girl acknowledged about 2 p.m. that she had concocted a hoax. He said that was about four hours after she had told deputies a tale of being kidnaped from her home then set free early Saturday.

The child called the Sheriff’s Department about 10:20 a.m. from a neighbor’s home and said she had just been released by a man who had kidnaped her, Mendez said.

He added that a search immediately was launched in the Mission Viejo area to find the man the child described. Mendez said about 12 deputies, a sheriff’s helicopter and sheriff’s bloodhounds were involved in the search.

Mendez said the Sheriff’s Department will file a report with the Orange County district attorney’s office to let that office decide whether any charges should be made against the child for filing a false police report.