Police: Abduction of young girl from Port St. Lucie a hoax
November 18th, 2009 by TCPalm.comPORT ST. LUCIE — The incident of a girl who may have been abducted Wednesday morning is now said to be a hoax, police announced about noon.
A police spokesman said there was no little girl.
There was “a lot of wasted resources today,” said Officer Tom Nichols, police spokesman, of all the law enforcement agencies that assisted with this search.
An Amber Alert was issued shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday for a girl police thought was abducted as she walked along Midtown Road near Port St. Lucie Boulevard earlier in the morning.
Two boys described the girl as being between 7 and 8 years old, white with dark hair. She was last seen wearing a blue skirt and a pink or purple shirt.
“After interviewing the boys for quite a few hours, they have recanted their story and said it was made up — it was a hoax,” 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.”
Nichols said detectives are trying to find out why they made up such a story.
It’s not clear what school the boys attend.
Nichols suspects investigators will be speaking with the parents of the boys “to find out why they made up this story.” Nichols said it’s possible the kids could face criminal charges.
The Amber Alert had said the child might be in the company of two Hispanic males, approximately 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.
Two 8- to 9-year-old boys walking to their bus stop at Southeast Pinero Road originally reported to police seeing a “suspicious van” driving south on Midtown Road about 7:25 a.m. when the van changed directions and went north. They said the van passed them and the occupants are thought to have taken the girl, according to police.
“They witnessed the van allegedly abduct this child,” Nichols said earlier during the search, adding the boys said the girl was kicking and screaming when they grabbed her and took off.
Police checked the public schools to make sure all the children are in school and no one was missing.
White vans were being stopped in hopes of finding the girl and police checked all sex offenders and/or predators in the area.
A flurry of law enforcement officers and vehicles descended on the area. A helicopter hovered over the area, at one point broadcasting information about the abduction and asking anyone with information to call 911.
Several law enforcement K-9 teams from throughout the state that were training in Martin County arrived at the scene to assist.
Tags: abduction, girl, midtown road, school, white van
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November 18th, 2009 at 11:03 am
who lets a 6yr old girl walk to school with out parental supervision. I can’t bare the thought of it. Her parents let her down BIG TIME!
November 18th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I PRAY AND HOPE SHE FINDS HER WAY HOME SAFE A SOUND!!!!!!!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 11:09 am
YES PRAY! Pray your face off. That always helps.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Shouldn’t a picture be out here by now?
November 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am
To the family of the missing child my prayers are with you and if I can help in her search please feel free to contact me at latinaruth@yahoo.com
November 18th, 2009 at 11:39 am
I am praying that this little precious girl is found soon. I cant stop crying thinking of how scared she must be and what a horrible feeling this is for her parents. My prayers go out to the family, stay strong and have faith.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
A girl was abducted yet no photo or identification or missing person’s report on the girl from the family…are the boys making up this story?? Doesn’t sound right to me. Or is the media not reporting this correctly?? I’m a little confused over this one. Also, there was a report some time back about two hispanic males near a school over in Loxahatchee or Royal Palm Beach trying to pick up kids. Hmmmm
November 18th, 2009 at 11:50 am
there has been rumors that there has been a white van in the acerage strolling around the bus stops and almost took a child a couple of weeks ago.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
The reason they have no picture is because they do not know who she is. They clearly state in the article that their were witnesses, they have accounted for all children at the bus stop, and are have no clue who she is. They have the description from the 2 boys that saw this happen. Read the story.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
its a hoax……on the news now
November 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
This is a terrible trick to play on the public. I don’t care how old these kids are that said this, they deserve harsh punishment. They have no hope for the future. I’m sure they cause trouble every place they go. Expect to hear about them many more times in the Palm Beach Post, as they will probably be abducting kids from vans in the future. FURIOUS..
November 18th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
My heart just sinks when I read stories like this. Why parents do not instruct their kids that if they have to walk alone, to walk with some other kid at least to a bus stop to wait for the bus. On my way to work, I see parents waiting in vehicles until the bus pick up their kids. And these kids are high school kids, not 6 or 7 year olds !! When my kids were small, I always had safe caretakers that walked with them & waited for them to get on the bus. Kids should also be taught to RUN, run like hell if a vehicle approaches them. RUN & SCREAM !! I hope they catch these 2 men and return the girl safely. I’m traveling tomorrow through the State of FL and 2 other states & will be on the lookout for all white vans and will track license plate #’s to report to police. Police will need all the support from the public they can get, I’m sure.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
The comments above show what suckers readers are for BALLOON BOY or any fake story that hits the front page.
People are talking about crying, etc……when it never even happened.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Knew something wasn’t right with this story (read my previous comments before news update)…hope they file some type of charges against these rotten kids for making up this story!!
November 18th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I hope this is indeed a hoax. I can’t understand why anyone, let alone two young boys would make up something of this magnitude. Punishment should be harsh. I was sitting on my back porch when the helicopter approached and broadcasted the alert, then immediately turned on the scanner for more information. I hope that (if in the future) anything happens like this again, the police agencies react and respond as fast as I witnessed this morning….Kudos to the efforts of the local law enforcement.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
These little boys should have never made up the story and wasted the authorities time but they are 8-9 years old. Formal charges do not need to be made. This country has taken away parents rights to discipline..it’s clear what the two boys should get!
November 18th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
to “emotional” above — just goes to show, that yes, mine along with the others’ comments, there are sympathetic, concerned souls out there; stories like this should not be made up; this is serious stuff to get the authorities involved and waste people’s time, efforts and resources. Besides, what’s one to think when it was News Headlines ?It’s bad enough when it’s reality and has to be dealt with; kids should be informed (educated!) about the consequences and not make it a joke. Good reason kids should go to school and learn something; where’s the discipline ? The kids should be reprimanded. Hope parents talk to their kids.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I really hope it was a hoax! If it was, those kids should do community service, instead of giving their parents a bill.
I guess no one ever read the “Boy who cried Wolf” to their child when they were younger!
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, also known as The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, is a fable attributed to Aesop (210 in Perry’s numbering system.[1]) The protagonist of the fable is a bored shepherd boy who entertained himself by calling out “Wolf!” Nearby villagers who came to his rescue found that the alarms were false and that they had wasted their time. When the boy was actually confronted by a wolf, the villagers did not believe his cries for help and the wolf ate the flock (and in some versions the boy). The moral is stated at the end of the fable as:
Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed. The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
people are so dumb- when the report kept being vague on the age of the girl it was obviously a hoax- for an initial report it was OK but as time passed and they still had no more information on the girl it sounded phoney to me.