Kidnapping story turns out to be false

The attempted kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl by a man with a gun Wednesday afternoon has proved to be a false report, according to Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry.

“She claimed some man picked her up and took her to a nearby business and dropped her off,” Curry said. “We reviewed security cameras there and, based on inconsistencies, she admitted it was not true while in a second interview with child interview specialists.”

Curry said there were doubts from the beginning, but in such cases all the evidence is weighed carefully until a determination is made. The final determination that this report was false was not made until Thursday morning.

Curry’s office is continuing to investigate another kidnapping reported Wednesday night, in which a man claimed another man got in his car and told him to drive to Deer Lodge while holding him at gunpoint.

The man reported that the kidnapper later got scared and fled the vehicle.

The man who alleged being kidnapped walked out of an interview with deputies on Thursday. It has not yet been determined whether a crime occurred.