Police in Volusia County, Florida, arrested an 11-year-old girl after she texted the Sheriff’s Communication Center at 9:45 a.m. to report her friend had been kidnapped on Thursday.
She sent further texts describing the “armed” kidnapper and his white van.
The text messages prompted a massive search for the white van, the kidnapper, and the little girl.
Authorities eventually determined the texts were a prank after they traced the number to the girl’s house.
“For the next hour and a half, the girl texted updates including a description of the male suspect and that he had a gun,” Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Ultimately, deputies were directed to a home in Port Orange by investigative means tracking the cell phone used to text 911.”
Police arrested the unidentified girl the same day and charged her with making a false report to 911.
Body cam video shows officers escorting the handcuffed girl from her house in Port Orange, Florida. Her face is obscured because she’s a juvenile.
The girl reportedly told deputies she got the idea to prank 911 after viewing a challenge video on TikTok and she thought it “would be funny.”
Meanwhile, Carlee Russell, the 26-year-old Hoover, Alabama woman who reported a toddler walking on the side of a highway on July 13, still has not been charged.
Hoover police are seeking two charges against the former nursing student, Fox News reports.
Police intend to charge Russell with false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, both of which are Class A misdemeanors. Each charge carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Russell is still walking free while an 11-year-old girl is in jail for the same crime.
The Hoover Police Department declined to respond to Fox News when contacted for comment.