CINCINNATI — A plea for help on social media spurred an overnight search effort in the Tri-State — but police say the whole thing was a hoax.
At about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, local gay rights activist Adam Hoover, 20, started sending out messages on Facebook and Twitter pleading for help.
Hoover claimed he was stuffed in the trunk of his vehicle and a group was claiming they would kill him and his family.
Hoover told his followers, “They said they are going to kill my family. … I don’t want to die.”
An emotional sounding Hoover told a dispatcher what he said happened to him after he arrived at a Miami View Road home.
Police later said that Hoover’s claims were made up and the incident did not actually happen. He was charged with making false claims — a first-degree misdemeanor.
Investigators said Hoover’s vehicle was found abandoned in Miami Township on US 50. He was found unharmed nearby.
Deputies said Green Township police and Hamilton County sheriff’s investigators interviewed Hoover before determining his story was not true.
Hoover’s mother told WCPO that she was able to see her son after he was found. She said she was able to give him a hug and that he said he loves her.
