ShareThisPORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A reported child abduction that turned out to be a hoax this week apparently started with two young boys mimicking the plot of a crime-related television program and ended with misdemeanor charges, a police spokesman said.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, dozens of law enforcement officers descended on central Port St. Lucie after the boys, acquaintances who ride the same school bus, concocted the abduction report, said Officer Tom Nichols, Port St. Lucie Police spokesman. The incident unfolded over several hours, generating national media attention and escalating into an Amber Alert issued just before 11 a.m.
"There were a lot of wasted resources (Wednesday) due to this," Nichols said. "However, the Port St. Lucie Police will continue to investigate these types of incidents aggressively."
The boys, whose names or school were not released but are around 8 or 10 years old, were at their bus stop when they saw a "suspicious" van passing. From there, they began fabricating the story, Nichols said.
The boasting and storytelling continued on the school bus. The bus driver overheard the conversation and reported it to St. Lucie County school security officials.
The boys told police that when the van passed them, men jumped out and snatched the girl -- who kicked and screamed during the incident.
"After interviewing the boys for quite a few hours, they have recanted their story and said it was made up," Nichols said. "The only validity to it was there was an actual white van on Midtown (Road) here. Everything after it about the girl bring abducted is in fact a hoax."
The boys each received a misdemeanor notice to appear for filing a false police report and were released to their parents.
Nichols said the majority of his agency's detectives and all available road patrol officers worked the case. Officers knocked on doors of all homes in the area, and calls were placed to residents via an automated reverse calling system.
The Amber Alert had said the child might be in the company of two Hispanic males, about 20 to 30 years old with dark hair, both wearing blue or black T-shirts. It said they were thought to have been involved in the abduction and might be traveling in a white, possibly newer model panel van with T-style brushed aluminum rims.
White vans were being stopped in hopes of finding the girl. Police checked all known sex offenders in the area, later expanding the search throughout the city and in parts of unincorporated St. Lucie County.
Port St. Lucie police were joined by dozens of investigators from other agencies.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office had about 20 deputies and detectives and a helicopter respond to the scene for hours, while about 15 Martin County Sheriff's Office investigators watched access points from Port St. Lucie into Martin County. Three Martin sheriff's detectives also went to Port St. Lucie to help.
Twenty Fort Pierce police officers looked for the van for several hours and the agency's SWAT team was on standby.
Fifteen canine units from the southeastern United States that were training in Martin County also came to help. Further, all Stuart Police officers on duty looked for the white van.
Nichols did not have an estimate of the cost of the search and said no decisions have been made as to whether to pursue billing the parents of the boys for any or all associated with the incident.
