El Paso police: Missing child in stolen vehicle 'did not exist,' woman arrested

El Paso police scrambled when a woman called 911 on Sunday claiming her small child was inside a vehicle that was reportedly stolen. Police officials said it turned out the child did not exist.

Stacie Dashay Marie Smith, 19, of East El Paso, was arrested on a charge of making a false report or alarm following an investigation by detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit, which handles kidnappings along with other major crimes.

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Smith is accused of making up the missing imaginary child story in order to elicit a faster response from police in finding her friend's vehicle that allegedly had been taken, police officials said in a news release on Monday, July 1.

A search for the child and the vehicle began about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, in the 14000 block of Lasso Rock Drive, near the intersection of Pebble Hills and Rich Beem boulevards in the far East Side.

Police first received a call reporting a vehicle theft. Smith then allegedly called 911 reporting that her child was missing and that she suspected the child had been taken by the person who had taken her friend's vehicle, police stated.

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After officers met with Smith and her friend, the vehicle was located after an "extensive search," but the child was still missing, police stated. Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit were called in to assist with the missing child investigation.

"The investigation revealed the child did not exist, and Smith had provided a fictitious name of a child to have police locate her friend's vehicle quickly," police said in a statement.

Smith was arrested on a charge of false report or alarm. She remained incarcerated on Monday under a $5,000 bond at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

It was not disclosed if anyone was arrested in connection with the taking of the vehicle.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso police: Missing child in stolen vehicle 'did not exist,' woman arrested