12-Year-Old Girl in Brazil Sent Fake Kidnapping Texts to Her Parents, Police Say

A 12-year-old girl from Itaiópolis in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, triggered an overnight emergency after disappearing from her family home around 1 a.m. and sending alarming messages to her parents. The texts claimed she had been taken by strangers, was in grave danger, and would be harmed unless money was paid. The frightened parents alerted police immediately, and the case was assigned to the criminal investigations unit in nearby Mafra.

For hours, investigators treated the matter as a possible kidnapping and searched for the source of the messages. About 10 hours later, around 11 a.m., more texts arrived from the girl’s phone, this time making an explicit demand for payment and repeating that she would be hurt if the family did not comply. Police did not release the amount demanded, and they also have not disclosed a motive.

The investigation led officers to a rural home outside Itaiópolis, near a highway, where they expected to find a kidnapped child. Instead, police said they found no signs that the girl had been held there against her will and no evidence of an immediate threat. Brazilian civil police later concluded the abduction story was fabricated and that the girl herself had sent the messages in an apparent attempt to extort money from her family.

A grown man was also found at the house and taken in for questioning, but his connection to the case has not been made public. Police are still checking whether anyone else was involved or whether the girl acted alone. She was found alive and has been detained for questioning on suspicion of extortion, under Brazil’s child and adolescent protection law. Police said the episode lasted about 16 hours, from the time she left home until she was located.