A 16-year-old Florida teenager allegedly planned her own kidnapping in an attempt to gain sympathy after breaking up with her boyfriend, the Daily Mail reported.
Ankita Lavender called her father on Tuesday and said she had been abducted by two men in a truck. An Amber Alert was issued followed by a three-hour search that ended when Lavender was found lying on the side of a road less than a mile from where she disappeared. After police noticed the teenager did not have the injuries she claimed to have suffered, Lavender confessed the kidnapping was a hoax and could now face charges for filing a false report.
"My personal opinion is that she should be charged, but that's a matter for the state attorney's office," said Clay County Sheriff's Office Colonel Craig Aldrich, the Daily Mail reported.
Authorities say the teenager should be held accountable for expenses wasted during the search, estimated at $5,000.
Lavender called her father at around 7:20 p.m. and said she had been kidnapped by two men in a white truck near Ridaught and County Road 220 in Middleburg, News4Jax.com reported.
An Amber Alert and 40 investigators were deployed to aid in the ground and air search, the Daily Mail reported. A motorist found Lavender lying on the side of Henley Road at around 10:52 p.m., less than a mile from the so-called kidnapping, News4Jax.com reported.
A distraught and emotional Lavender told authorities she got injured after being thrown from the truck. But there were no visible signs of injuries on her body.
Lavender admitted she broke up with her boyfriend on Sunday and that she "decided to play the sympathy card" by staging the incident, according to the Daily Mail.
Evidence from the teenager's Twitter account suggests she thought about the kidnapping before the breakup.
"Going MIA for a while..." Lavender tweeted April 23, according to the Daily Mail.
"If I disappeared, it wouldn't even be a problem," she tweeted April 27, the day of the breakup.
The district attorney's office is currently investigating the fake kidnapping to determine if Lavender will be charged.
