Sacramento, Calif., police were allegedly led on a wild-goose chase, expending resources looking for a missing 10-year-old girl who, it turns out, was not missing at all, ABC 10 reports.
According to the report, the girl's mother lied to police in order to make it look as if the child's father had done something wrong; her goal was reportedly to teach him a lesson about leaving the girl at home by herself.
Shavaughn Vaughn reported her daughter, Laprea Lee, missing around 1 p.m., telling police that the child's father, Don Lee, had taken the girl camping over the weekend. Her daughter was supposed to be dropped off at Vaughn's home by the grandfather at 10:30 a.m., she told the authorities, but she could not find the girl there when she arrived at 11 a.m. Vaughn then told officers that she believed the girl's father was hiding the girl somewhere.
Vaughn, police said, was upset that the grandfather would leave the little girl at home alone.
Police searched for the child all night—for about eight hours—investing resources on the ground and in the air.
As it turns out, Vaughn knew where her daughter was all along. Around 11 p.m., police discovered that Vaughn and her boyfriend, 44-year-old Antwan Holliday, had made up the entire incident. The girl was found at Holliday's home.
Both Vaughn and Holliday were booked in Sacramento County Jail on charges of false reporting of an emergency, obstructing police and conspiracy.
Read more at ABC 10.