A Florida teen who claimed he’d been shot and abducted by four Hispanic men “completely made up” the story, investigators say.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said that “there were an alarming amount of red flags initially,” but investigators plugged away at the case.
Authorities issued an Amber Alert Thursday night after Speight’s parents received a text from their son saying he had been abducted by the four men in a light colored van, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Investigators later found the truck abandoned with the doors left open and evidence of a single gunshot. Authorities activated a widespread search with air assets, ground searcher, and mounted units, but before long said that the information and evidence collected were “unsupportive of the initially reported facts.”
Part of that evidence came from reports that Speight had bought a bicycle and camping supplies at Walmart just before reporting he had been abducted.
“Caden simply rode away towards Williston while the rest of us were left to think the worst and my team was working in overdrive to solve this case,” Woods said.
“To continue the ruse, Caden, who had a handgun with him since the beginning of all of this, chose to shoot himself in the leg, causing a non-life-threatening injury just prior to walking out to the roadway where he would be located by citizens in Williston,” the sheriff said. “There is ZERO chance that Caden’s gunshot wound came from any type of assailant.”
Woods said that deputies are still compiling evidence before making a determination about whether the boy will face charges. Plus, he said, Speight’s parents have refused to let him speak with detectives.
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[Featured image: Marion County Sheriff’s Office]
