SOUTH POINT — An 18-year-old South Point woman is the focus of a criminal complaint for falsifying a report that she was the target of an attempted kidnapping.

Myranda Mahon, of 108 Park Ave., South Point went to the sheriff’s office claiming a man in a grey minivan pulled up beside her while she was at the Marathon gas station on Grandview Avenue on May 31.

She claimed the man grabbed her by the arm and tried to get her into the van, but she escaped, according to a report by Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless.

“Detectives have determined that this situation never occurred,” the statement said.

After watching surveillance tapes from the service station, detectives determined the woman was never approached by the van or any other vehicle.

“Ever since Ms. Mahon has filed the report, we have made several attempts to contact her, but she has never returned any of the calls,” the statement said.

The sheriff’s office has filed the complaint charging her with a misdemeanor in the first degree.

“This situation went viral over the Internet and panicked many people,” Lawless said. “People were reporting this as fact when there was no truth in it.”