Amber Alert Canceled: Tulsa Police Say Child Was Never In Stolen Vehicle

Tulsa police have canceled an Amber Alert for a 5-year-old boy after they found out he was never inside a vehicle when it was reported stolen from a midtown convenience store on Saturday night, police sources tell News On 6.

TPD says officers arrested William Edward Johnson, 32, after he reportedly admitted he made up the story about the child being in the SUV "because he knew TPD would do more to find his vehicle," according to Officer Leland Ashley.

The Amber Alert was issued just before 11 p.m. after a custom-painted, purplish-blue 1990 Chevrolet Suburban with Oklahoma license plate number 656DXR was reported stolen from a 33rd and Yale gas station about 9:05 p.m. 

About 12:30 a.m., investigators told News On 6 there was never a child in the car. Williams gave police the name of a boy and his clothing description, saying the child was in the SUV alone when it was taken from the store's parking lot, TPD said.

The suspected "abductor" was described as a white man with dark hair wearing a ball cap and flannel shirt with a tattoo on the right side of his neck. Police also released surveillance images of the man outside the store about an hour after the Amber Alert was issued.

Police said in the alert that the thief arrived to the gas station in a late-model Chevrolet single-cab pickup with some type of logo on the door. Video showed that truck followed the stolen SUV as it left the store, according to police. Investigators said they tracked the white truck to southwest Mounds near Adams Road and D0804 Road. As of 1:20 a.m., police still were conducting a manhunt for the two people they say ran from that truck.

The SUV reportedly was recovered with no one inside near 36th Street and Harvard Ave.