Pueblo man arrested after Police confirm false report of kidnapping led to AMBER Alert Wednesday

PUEBLO — The Pueblo Police Department says they have arrested a man in connection to a false kidnapping report that triggered an AMBER Alert Wednesday.

On Wednesday around 9:00 p.m., the Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued an AMBER Alert for 13-year-old Sandra Mendoza of Pueblo.

According to investigators at the time, earlier that evening Daniel Reyes reported that Sandra "his cousin" was in the back of a vehicle that was stolen out of an area located near Mountain View Cemetery.

Investigators were able to locate the stolen truck that Sandra was allegedly in, but she was nowhere to be found.

Police confirmed to News5 that Reyes claimed to police that Sandra was his cousin at the time of reporting the kidnapping and stolen vehicle. Information reported to detectives nearly 4 hours after the search for Sandra began confirmed that Sandra had no relation to Reyes and that Sandra was safely located at home.

Reyes has been booked into the Pueblo County Jail and is awaiting an advisement scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

"While working an armed, barricaded suspect incident on the north side of town, the men and women in dispatch and of our department, other responding agencies, and community members displayed the highest degree of teamwork, tenacity, and dedication to locate the reported kidnapping victim," shared Police Chief Chris Noeller. "False reporting wastes countless hours of manpower and resources, not only in our community, but also in the surrounding areas limiting law enforcement's ability to respond to additional needs. Our department is thankful the juvenile was safe in this incident."

This is a developing story and will be updated as we learn more.