Every mother worries that there will be a day she gets a phone call from someone saying something horrific has happened to her baby. My stomach sinks even when my kid’s school calls me, even though I know it’s 99% likely they’re just trying to tell me something minor, like he has a fever.
I can hardly imagine what was going through Florida mom Anne Speight’s head when she got a text from her 17-year-old son, Caden Speight, saying he’d been abducted and shot by “four Hispanic men” in a white van. I also can’t imagine what it was like to have him found—only to discover he made the entire thing up.
Caden was reported missing on September 25, 2025, after his mother received that harrowing text. He was reportedly seen wearing a MAGA hat before his disappearance. Police immediately sprang into action, deploying every resource they had into finding Caden, reports the Daily Mail.
They issued an Amber Alert, and according to the New York Post, authorities quickly found his abandoned car with evidence of a single gunshot. Authorities worked through the night, searched the area via helicopter, and checked hospitals—with no luck.
Caden turned up the next day, and police determined that he wasn’t abducted but had instead made up the entire ordeal and even shot himself to keep up the ruse.
“…his claims that he had been shot and abducted were quickly disproven,” asserted Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods in a lengthy Facebook update. “We then learned that he had purchased a bicycle, tent, and camping supplies just prior to him reporting this.”
He emphasized that there was zero chance he was shot by an assailant.
“Many of you have asked, ‘Will Caden be facing any charges?’ ‘What about the taxpayer cost of this large-scale investigation and search?’ I can tell you those items are not off the table at this point,” the sheriff assured. “Right now, we are still processing all of the evidence in this case, and I don’t want to make any statements on that until we have fully examined it all.”
As of the September 29th statement, Caden’s parents refused to allow detectives to speak to him.
