A Michigan woman who claimed she had been kidnapped and then sexually assaulted will be charged with one count of false report of a felony: criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping.
MLive reported that the 19-year-old-woman, who has yet to be named, claimed that she was kidnapped in Lansing, Michigan, on March 26. She said the man held her at gunpoint and took her to Elmira where he sexually assaulted her. She claimed she was able to escape using a letter opener.
WPBN/WGTU immediately reported the story, with police saying the suspect was still at large and considered armed and dangerous.
“She had a letter opener and she said she used it,” Michigan State Police Public Information Officer Lt. Derrick Carroll said of the woman. “I don’t know if she threatened him with it but at that point, she was able to get out of the vehicle and fled.”
K-9 units searched the area where the woman said the assault happened. Police also searched the woman’s car, saying the suspect could be anywhere.
Days later, police determined the woman made up the story, MLive reported.
“Police said the woman was able to escape a vehicle using a letter opener, but it has been determined that incident did not occur, police said,” the outlet reported at the end of March. “The investigation into the alleged attack and the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing, however there is no danger to the public and troopers are no longer looking for a suspect at large.”
Now the woman faces charges, though police told MLive they are working on an arrangement for the woman to turn herself in. Police made the determination that she was lying after “mounting a search, collecting evidence and following leads in Lansing and Elmira,” the outlet reported.
This woman is not the first to falsely claim she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. In September 2018, The Daily Wire reported that a woman in Fresno, California, made a similar claim, adding that the $9,000 she had with her to pay two subcontractors who drove for her trucking company had also been stolen.
“The truth is Maria Gonzalez made up this entire story for the purpose of letting someone know that $9,000 had been stolen from her — $9,000 she was supposed to pay to subcontractors,” said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer at the time. “The reality is she didn’t have the $9,000 to pay the subcontractors, and that’s why she made up the entire story.”
In July 2018, The Daily Wire reported on the arrest of Tammy Steffen, who told police that a man had tried to kidnap her 12-year-old daughter and that she had been sent anonymous threatening messages. It turned out the woman framed her former business partner because she believed the man manipulated votes or otherwise kept her from winning an online fitness contest. In another case, from December 2019, a woman claimed her son was kidnapped so police would look for her stolen car.