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Police: Teen's kidnap story a hoax

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 14, 2006

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - A 16-year-old girl's story of being kidnapped at gunpoint from her family's driveway and then held in a white van for hours was a hoax, authorities said Thursday.

Police and FBI agents said Kelsey Stelting acknowledged Thursday morning that it never happened and said she instead spent the day alone not far from town.

The reported abduction led Kansas officials to issue an Amber Alert, the FBI brought in 30 agents and other personnel to join the search, and officials in Oklahoma were notified to be on the lookout for a white van.

Kelsey was missing for about 15 hours before turning up at a stranger's home in her small southeast Kansas town. She said she had attacked her assailant and was able to escape.

In reality, officials said, she jogged to an area southwest of Independence, called 911 to report that she had been abducted, and then stayed there alone.

"She said that all of the original statements she made regarding the abduction were false and that she acted alone," officials said in a written statement.

Kelsey could be charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, police Chief Lee Bynum said. He said police will turn over reports to the county's juvenile prosecutor to decide. FBI Agent Jeff Lanza said he didn't foresee any federal charges.

Authorities would not say what motivated the girl to report a fake abduction. "That's between her (and) her family," Bynum said.

A family spokesman said the girl was sorry.

"Given her state of mind, Kelsey didn't realize the consequences of her actions, which she wholeheartedly regrets," Tim Valentine said at a news conference. "We've all made mistakes, and Kelsey just happened to make hers under the glare of the spotlight."

[Last modified April 14, 2006, 02:43:10]