A northwest Iowa girl is caught after playing a dangerous game of “cry wolf.” Estherville police say a 13-year-old girl called the Emmet County communications center on Wednesday, telling a dispatcher she’d been kidnapped and was being held prisoner. Six additional 9-1-1 calls were made over the next two hours by the same girl.
Authorities were able to find the girl, based on information from the dispatcher — and she was in no peril. The unnamed girl is charged with seven counts of making false reports to police. Estherville’s police chief says such calls tie up 9-1-1 phone lines and send authorities searching for non-existent victims.