A Colorado man's false claim of a kidnapping incident that prompted an AMBER Alert has led to his arrest, authorities say. Daniel Reyes, 34, reported his white F-250 truck stolen with his 13-year-old cousin, Sandra, inside, in an episode that unfurled at Big Daddy's Sunset Bowl on Prairie Avenue in Pueblo, but it was later revealed that the teenager was safe and at home, and no relation to Reyes.
According to KKTV, Pueblo Police were summoned Wednesday evening around 5:15 p.m. and launched an investigation that quickly mobilized numerous agencies and extended across jurisdictions before locating the vehicle unoccupied in the 1100 block of Cypress Street, domesticating a frenzy of concern across the community that turned out unfounded. Around four hours after initiating the search, detectives ascertained the truth and subsequently canceled the AMBER Alert.
As reported by Denver7, the extensive search concluded with the discovery along Cypress Street, and by approximately 9 p.m. that evening, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation had already issued an AMBER Alert for the purportedly missing girl.
Reyes, who initially claimed a familial connection to Sandra's untruthfulness has led to his arrest and he is now being held at Pueblo County Jail, as detailed by KOAA News5, with his court advisement scheduled for 2:30 p.m. the following Thursday, the reverberations of his actions has caused concern on the effectiveness and integrity of AMBER Alerts, a vital tool in the swift response to actual abductions.
