11-year-old girl arrested for fake abduction report inspired by a YouTube challenge

An 11-year-old girl was arrested outside her home in Port Orange, Florida Wednesday morning for falsely reporting that her friend had been kidnapped. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said the girl sent a text to 911 saying she was following an armed man in a white van who had abducted her 14-year-old friend. “For the next hour and a half, the girl texted updates including a description of the male suspect and that he had a gun. Ultimately, deputies were directed to a home in Port Orange by investigative means tracking the cell phone used to text 911,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on Facebook. The girl, who faces a felony charge for false reporting and a misdemeanor charge for misuse of 911, told police she was inspired by a YouTube challenge and thought it “would be funny.”