MOAB, Utah, March 13, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — For the second time in less than two weeks, a Utah police department has investigated an attempted child abduction only to learn the report was fabricated by the young “victim.”
On Wednesday, the Moab City Police Department sent out an update to a news release issued hours earlier. The first statement said two 12-year-old boys had been stopped Tuesday afternoon by men in a van who invited the kids to play video games, then tried but failed to pull them into the van.
“Both boys were visibly distraught, but were able to provide officers with statements describing the incident,” the Moab City Police Department said in a statement released at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Moab City Police officials updated the original story in a news release issued at about 7 p.m. Wednesday:
“The Moab City Police Department has concluded our investigation into the reported abduction attempt referenced in today’s earlier press release,” the new statement said.
“We have positively determined that the two children fabricated the abduction report. We are no longer seeking information about this incident, nor are we looking for the van that was reported to be involved in the incident.”
Bountiful case
The Bountiful City Police Department investigated a false report the week before, on March 4. A news release was issued just after 9:30 that night.
“The Junior High age victim reported she was approached by an older male as she walked from school to her pickup location,” the statement said.
“The male indicated he was there to pick her up because her father was unavailable. When the victim did not cooperate, the suspect grabbed her and detained her, but was interrupted by other students in the area and then released her.”
The Bountiful City Police update came just after 10:30 a.m. the next day.
During the investigation, the statement said, “it became apparent the complainant’s statements were not consistent with the information obtained as part of the investigation. When confronted about the inconsistencies, the compainant recanted her statement.”
