Police announced Tuesday that two teenage girls who reported they were abducted from the east side of Bountiful were lying.
The girls, 16 and 17, claimed they were forced by two men into a vehicle at 2 a.m. on Sept. 9. They told police they were bound with duct tape and taken 70 miles from Bountiful. The teenagers flagged down a vehicle later that evening in Santaquin and called police.
Lt. Dave Edwards with the Bountiful Police Department said this development in the case was unexpected.
“Up until yesterday we had no information indicating that this wasn’t a valid abduction at all,” Edwards said. “Yesterday afternoon, through some good detective work by our detective sergeant, we were able to obtain video of the two girls in a convenience store in Payson.”
Edwards said detectives were searching for evidence of the red SUV the girls reported being confined in at the time the footage was discovered.
The girls were caught on film casually walking into a convenience store and having lunch during the 19-hour period they claimed to be in captivity.
Edwards said the girls confessed to making up the abduction when confronted with the video evidence.
“The girls admitted the abduction was fraudulent. They really did not answer our questions about why they made up this story,” Edwards said.
The girls have been returned to their parents after questioning and Edwards said charges will be screened against them for filing a fraudulent police report.