Sacramento Police spent most of Tuesday searching for 10-year-old Laprea Lee, after the girl’s mother reported her missing, according to CBS13. Shavaughn Vaugn, 43, reported that her daughter disappeared from outside her home in the Land Park region shortly before 11 a.m., local time.
Officers called upon community members, and even a helicopter, to aid in the search. Vaugn made a tearful plea to CBS13’s television cameras to help bring her daughter home.
Police say it was all a farce.
After eight hours of searching, officers received a tip that the missing girl was in fact being hidden at the home of her mother’s boyfriend, reports CBS Sacramento. The entire thing was an elaborate revenge plot against Vaugn’s estranged husband.
The girl’s father, Don Lee, had taken her camping over the weekend. When he brought her home earlier than expected, her mother was angry at having to rush home.
She later told police that there was no sign of her daughter when she arrived, despite knowing exactly where the girl was.
Vaugn and her boyfriend, Antwan Holliday, 44, staged the kidnapping in an effort to implicate the girl’s father, according to the report. During the search, Vaugn kept telling police she believed Lee was hiding their daughter somewhere. Investigators looked into the claims, but found no signs of foul play.
It’s difficult to say what Vaugn’s end game might have been in this. At best, she would make the girl’s father look bad for leaving her unattended, but her involvement in concealing the child and lying to police would still be far more sinister.
Fortunately, the child was found safe and the mother will now have to answer for her selfish actions.
Vaugn and Holliday were both arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Jail. They face a host of charges, both felony and misdemeanor. Vaugn is accused of false report of an emergency, obstructing/delaying police, and conspiracy.
Featured image: Screengrab of CBS Sacramento video via YouTube.
