A Florida teenager is accused of fabricating a kidnapping story that launched an Amber Alert, prompted a multi-agency search and later ended with him shooting himself in the leg, authorities said.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods announced the allegations Monday in a video posted to Facebook, stating that 17-year-old Caden Speight’s claims of being shot and abducted were “proven to be false.”
The investigation began Friday afternoon after alarming text messages from Speight to his family suggested he had been abducted and injured, Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
Authorities said the teen’s messages claimed he was shot and taken by unknown men, leading to immediate concern for his safety.
That same day, an Amber Alert was issued by law enforcement.
The alert stated that Speight had last been seen wearing a T-shirt and jeans and might have been with four men traveling in a light-colored van.
The alert spread rapidly, as authorities sought to enlist the public’s help in locating the missing teenager.
The report sparked a large law enforcement response.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office deployed detectives, aviation support, field force units and mounted patrols in the search.
Other agencies coordinated with the sheriff’s office to respond to what was initially treated as a dangerous abduction case.
Investigators worked overnight, combing through leads, interviewing witnesses and searching areas around Ocala.
The urgency of the case was heightened by the details Speight had provided, which suggested he had already been shot and remained in the custody of unknown suspects.
By the next day, however, the investigation began to uncover details that contradicted the original account.
Sheriff Woods said authorities found no evidence to support the claim that Speight had been abducted by men in a van.
Witness statements also disputed elements of the teenager’s story.
Detectives then discovered that Speight had purchased a bicycle, tent and camping supplies from a Walmart in Ocala shortly before his disappearance.
Surveillance and transactional evidence confirmed the purchase, which shifted the direction of the investigation.
Sheriff Woods said the new evidence pointed to the possibility that the teen had left on his own, rather than being abducted.
“We did find evidence of a single gunshot where Caden left his truck. However, his claims that he had been shot and abducted were quickly disproven,” Woods said, Fox News reported.
Speight had left the area on a black bicycle loaded with the camping gear, according to the sheriff’s office.
He traveled toward Williston, a city about 20 miles southwest of Gainesville.
Law enforcement continued the search, and on Saturday, citizens in Williston located Speight on a roadway.
He was found alive but suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg.
Authorities later determined the wound was self-inflicted.
“To continue the ruse, Caden, who had a handgun with him since the beginning of all of this, chose to shoot himself in the leg, causing a non-life-threatening injury just prior to walking out to the roadway where he would be located by citizens in Williston,” Sheriff Woods said.
The sheriff emphasized that the injury did not come from any outside attacker.
“There is ZERO chance that Caden’s gunshot wound came from any type of assailant,” he said.
Sheriff Woods explained that deputies had been confronted with “an alarming amount of red flags” throughout the case, but each lead was pursued given the seriousness of the initial report.
“Caden simply rode away towards Williston while the rest of us were left to think the worst and my team was working in overdrive to solve this case,” Woods said.
He credited deputies for their diligence in working around the clock to locate Speight and for piecing together the events that disproved the teenager’s story.
The sheriff did not confirm whether Speight will face charges.
Woods said investigators are still reviewing evidence and weighing the next steps.
He added that deputies still have questions for the teen about his actions, but his parents have declined to allow him to speak with detectives.
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