Alleged abduction of teen that triggered Amber Alert was a prank, police say
Alleged abduction of teen that triggered Amber Alert was prank, police say
The apparent kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl from a Santa Rosa gas station that triggered an Amber Alert was actually a prank, police said Thursday. The girl told police that her boyfriend and another person she knows took her on a surprise trip to Los Angeles for the night. The girl was home with family in Vallejo on Thursday and was unharmed police said.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The alleged abduction of a teenaged girl in Santa Rosa that triggered an Amber Alert to find her on Thursday turned out to be a hoax, according to police.
The 15-year-old girl was actually on a quick trip to Los Angeles with her boyfriend and someone else she knew. But by Thursday before noon, she was back at her family's home and unharmed in Vallejo, Santa Rosa police told KTVU.
The teen told police that she was not taken against her will, according to police.
"The child has been located safe and well at her residence with her family," Lt. Jenene Kucker said in an email.
That came as a surprise because of surveillance footage and her family's statements about witnessing men take her from a gas station.
Surveillance footage showed a man in an orange shirt apparently forcing the teen into a green van at an Arco gas station in Santa Rosa on Wednesday afternoon. But that was actually a prank staged by the boyfriend for the surprise trip to LA, according to what Santa Rosa police said.
WATCH: Surveillance video shows 15-year-old girl taken from Santa Rosa gas station
However, relatives who witnessed it believed it was an actual kidnapping. They told police that several men pushed her into a dark green jeep. An Amber Alert was issued Thursday morning to find her.
Police have not yet located the boyfriend.
Investigators initially identified the man in the orange shirt in the surveillance video as 20-year-old Ionita Cimino.