HOLIDAY, Fla. -- A mother has been arrested after being accused of lying about her daughter's attempted kidnapping.
Tammy Steffens, 36, allegedly called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office Saturday to report someone kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter behind her home near the woods.
"As a result of this report of the attempted kidnapping, the sheriff's office threw its might at this problem," Pasco County Sheriff's Office Capt. Chris Beaman said during a press conference, "A lot of resources went at, as should occur, at the report of a such a heinous event in our community."
The Holiday area was on high alert after Pasco deputies put the word out on social media about what they believed to be an attempted kidnapping, deputies said.
Steffens coached her 12-year-old daughter through a walk-through of deputies investigating, even going as far as making her daughter urinate herself to make the kidnapping seem more "believable," detectives say.
"What we learned is that what I believe is a sick person fabricated this whole event," Beaman said, "What's worse is that this mother of the 12-year-old utilized her daughter to perpetuate this ridiculous report of a crime."
Steffens allegedly bought several items to place on the property she told detectives the suspect had left behind, including a laptop cover, a blue notepad containing the family's personal information inside of it, and a pack of four colored pens.
Along with seeing Walmart surveillance of Steffens purchasing the items from a nearby Walmart, deputies found a note written in the same four colors inside of the notebook.
Detectives said the daughter was crying when investigators spoke to her, concerned about what would happen to her mother.
Steffens later admitted to investigators that she made up the allegation along with filing a false police report, according to deputies.
Detectives discovered Tammy selected a business partner she claims prevented her from winning a health or fitness contest online as the would-be kidnapper.
"As is the fabrication, it's all in her head," deputies added.
Pasco deputies seem to be frustrated with the waste of resources in this incident, but their biggest priority remained easing the community most affected by the false reports.
"You can go on with the rest of your days knowing that this didn't actually happen," Beaman added.
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