BOUNTIFUL, Utah – Authorities are now saying the teen girls who claimed they were kidnapped in Bountiful have just admitted the whole event was a hoax.
Police said they found surveillance video which clearly shows the two girls in a convenience store during the time of the alleged abduction.
Officers confronted the teens, ages 16 and 17, about the video and said the pair eventually admitted it was all a hoax.
The teens could now face charges for falsely filing a report of abduction back in September.
Bountiful Police said the teens originally told officers they were abducted at about 2 a.m. Sept. 9 and held in a red SUV against their will.
According to police documents, the teens said they were held for about 19 hours and when the SUV stopped in Santaquin, “One of the girls defeated her restraints then aided the second victim in escaping the SUV. The girls ran on foot passing several motorists who did not stop when the girls tried to flag them down.”
Officers said the girls told them they were restrained with duct tape but were able to get out of it and escape through the back of the SUV.
The girls eventually borrowed a phone from a passerby to call 911.
The mothers of the two teens spoke with Fox 13 back in September after their daughters returned home.
One mother said, “Around 11 o’clock that night they did snapchat everyone saying they were going on a walk. Around 11:45 they only sent snapchats to a few people, only a couple coworkers, that they were being followed.”
According to their mothers, the girls refused a ride from three people in a red SUV and that’s when things got violent.
“The two men jumped out, they grabbed them, they beat them, they threw them back in the back of the car. They were driving for an extended period of time with extended stops and every time the girls moved or whimpered or cried they would hit them or cut them and threaten to kill them,” the mother of the 16-year-old girl said back in September.
One mom said, “They’re both clingy. My daughter, she’s pretty much gone everywhere with me, everywhere. She’s paranoid even if I go upstairs.”
The other mom said, “Right now, my entire house is on lockdown. Nobody is going anywhere. Nobody goes outside by themselves. We don’t know if these people know where we live. We’re just taking every precaution until we know more.”
We are working to speak with the mothers and daughters now, after learning the abduction and escape are false claims.
