A 17-year-old girl in north-west France who claimed she was kidnapped and forced to dig her own grave has admitted to lying about the incident, prosecutors said.
The teenager disappeared on Monday afternoon while jogging in the Mayenne region, east of Rennes. Her father found her phone and GPS watch with traces of blood along her route, prompting a large-scale search involving 200 police officers, rescue dogs, divers and a helicopter.
She reappeared the following evening at a takeaway in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, about 10km from where she went missing, in a state of shock with scratches on her body. She initially told police she had been held captive by kidnappers who forced her to dig her own grave before she escaped.
However, local prosecutor Céline Maigné said the teenager has now admitted to making up the story. She confessed that she was not kidnapped and had walked to Sablé-sur-Sarthe on her own. The scratches were self-inflicted, and she cut her T-shirt with scissors.
The teenager will be investigated for reporting an imaginary crime. The prosecutor noted that the inquiry will also consider her personality to understand the reasons behind her behaviour, which remain unexplained.
