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PD: Mom reported child missing to scare dad

Posted at 11:41 AM, Sep 10, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-10 11:41:00-04

BLUE ASH, Ohio -- Severe weather last Friday night left thousands around the Tri-State in the dark.

It also sent Blue Ash police out onto the streets, in search for a 1-year-old boy reported missing by his mother.

But, it turns out things weren’t as they seemed.

Lieutenant Steve Schuler said the child’s mother, Shandon Simmons, sent the child’s father an alarming text message that night.

A police lieutenant said Simmons told the child's father via text that no one was home when she dropped the boy off.

The father, who was away from his Blue Ash home, quickly sent his sister a text message, asking she go see.

When she arrived, Schuler said, “she found a diaper bag on the porch, which then seemingly confirmed the text message.”

When the father tried calling Simmons back, Schuler said, he got no answer.

At that point, police launched a search of the area. Neighbors even pitched in.

“I was worried about the child because of the lightning, the storm,” said Shirley Hollander, a neighbor.

Blue Ash police even reached out to law enforcement in Dayton, where Simmons lives.

When officers arrived at her residence, they discovered the truth:

The child had been there the whole time.

Police believe Simmons was trying to traumatize the child’s father.

Simmons turned herself into police custody Thursday. She is charged with inducing panic and released on her promise to appear in court.