--- description: The missing teen girl who appeared to be abducted while walking with her mother has been found and is back home, police confirmed to TIME. title: A Bronx Teen Reportedly Faked Her Own Kidnapping image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263defb11489ed3b/698a07a9457a5270d6d63460/karol-sanchez-bronx-kidnapping-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [New York](/tag/new-york/) ## New York Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Bronx Teen Reportedly Faked Her Own Kidnapping by [Josiah Bates](/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:16 PM CUTPublished: Dec 17, 2019 5:12 PM CUT  Karol Sanchez, 16, was kidnapped from the Bronx in New York on Dec. 16, 2019. Karol Sanchez, 16, was kidnapped from the Bronx in New York on Dec. 16, 2019.New York Police Department by [Josiah Bates](/author/josiah-bates/) ## Josiah Bates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Josiah Bates is a criminal justice reporter and a former TIME staff writer. He currently works for The Trace. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:16 PM CUTPublished: Dec 17, 2019 5:12 PM CUT The missing teen girl who appeared to be abducted while walking with her mother has been found and is back home, police confirmed to TIME. But Karol Sanchez, 16, told police that her terrifying disappearance was all a [hoax](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/nyregion/karol-sanchez-bronx-amber-alert.html "undefined"), according to the New York _Times_. Shortly after she was found on Tuesday afternoon, she was questioned by officers. Sanchez’ alleged kidnapping, which prompted an Amber Alert and a steady stream of news, was a stunt staged because she was angry with her mother, the _Times_ reports. One police officer said that Sanchez described her mother as “overprotective.” Police officials said the girl’s family was considering moving back to their native Honduras, but the teenager wanted to remain in the U.S., the _Times_ reports. Her disappearance unnerved New Yorkers after a disturbing video released by the New York City Police Department earlier Tuesday showed what looks like two men grabbing and kidnapping Sanchez off the street. Police are still deciding whether the men involved in the set up will face criminal charges, reports the _Times_. Two men then get out of the car, grabbed Sanchez and dragged her into the vehicle, according to police. They then drove away, leaving Sanchez’s mother at the scene. > [](https://twitter.com/NYPD40Pct/status/1206912178533601282) Authorities added that there were two additional men in the car and all of them were wearing dark clothing. > [](https://twitter.com/NYPDTips/status/1206908464280297473) NYPD has so far declined to provide details on how Sanchez was found. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5751349/karol-sanchez-kidnapping-bronx/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5751349/karol-sanchez-kidnapping-bronx/"},"headline":"A Bronx Teen Reportedly Faked Her Own Kidnapping","datePublished":"2019-12-17T17:12:14.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T20:16:00.000Z","description":"Her disappearance unnerved New Yorkers after a disturbing video released by the New York City Police Department","url":"https://time.com/5751349/karol-sanchez-kidnapping-bronx/","keywords":["New York","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263defb11489ed3b/698a07a9457a5270d6d63460/karol-sanchez-bronx-kidnapping-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josiah Bates","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josiah-bates/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263defb11489ed3b/698a07a9457a5270d6d63460/karol-sanchez-bronx-kidnapping-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"karol-sanchez-bronx-kidnapping","caption":"Karol Sanchez, 16, was kidnapped from the Bronx in New York","creditText":"New York Police Department","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/new-york/","name":"New York"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5751349/karol-sanchez-kidnapping-bronx/","name":"A Bronx Teen Reportedly Faked Her Own Kidnapping"}}]}] ```