(Oakland, TN) Investigators with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department have yet to calculate the cost of Thursday’s kidnapping hoax, but predict the cost of overtime will be in the hundreds.
Detectives launched an investigation around 3:30 Thursday afternoon, when a 11-year-old reported he was kidnapped while checking the mail at his Oakland home and then dropped off a half mile away.
“You have to consider whether it’s children or not, and they obviously don’t think about those implications a lot of times as far as the cost,” said resident Peter Moffatt.
After three hours of looking for suspects, investigators determined the story was all a lie made up by the child to get out of a previous punishment.
“There was relief and definitely wondered what would’ve caused a child to react in such a manner,” said neighbor Pam Seymour.
On Friday, detectives put together a case file and presented it to the District Attorney, who will decide if charges will be filed against the child. A judge will decide if the family has to pay restitution.
“Thankfully our police and so forth here acted quickly, and I’m sure they did the best they could to take care of the situation,” said Moffatt.
