Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – June 18, 2024 – Jonesboro police officers thought they might be responding to a kidnapping or a murder. It turned out to just be a prank.
Late Saturday night, officers were dispatched to Craighead Forest Road around 10:30pm concerning a domestic disturbance in progress. Dispatchers said they heard a female scream “he’s got me.” She was crying for help during the phone call. She told dispatch that a man had kidnapped her and was holding her against her will inside a residence in the 1000 block of Craighills.
As officers got to the house, dispatch got another call from the same number. A male voice on the phone said he was the “kidnapper” and that he was about to kill the female caller with a knife. Soon after, the male voice told dispatch that he had just killed her.
Dispatch asked the male caller if he would come outside and surrender to officers. He said no and disconnected the call. Officers on the scene requested backup due to the nature of the call between the man and dispatch.
As other officers arrived, an entry team tried to make contact at the front door of the residence. A male and female subject came out. It was later learned that these two subjects were not related to the call to dispatch. Dispatch then advised officers that the phone that was making these calls was pinging at a location about 25 feet away.
While officers were investigating the house next door, they saw movement coming from the back windows of the house, and they heard what sounded like children laughing.
Dispatch and other officers were finally able to make contact with the homeowner, who showed up at the house in a white passenger car with two other females inside. According to the police report, it was one of the homeowner’s oldest daughters that had apparently used her phone to call in this fake claim to dispatch.
There was no kidnapping. There was no murder.
Just a bunch of unsupervised juveniles tying up valuable law enforcement resources with a prank call. Officers were on scene until around midnight.
The report states that around 12 children eventually came out of the home, and the homeowner advised that no one else was present with them.
No arrests were made on this misdemeanor offense.