TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A teenage boy whose disappearance prompted an extensive search last week was never kidnapped, and the story was "completely made up," Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said on Monday.

"[He] simply rode away toward Williston while the rest of us were left to think the worst, and my team was working in overdrive to solve this case," he said in a video posted to Facebook.

The 17-year-old was first reported missing from Dunnellon last Thursday, Sept. 25, and an AMBER Alert was issued that afternoon that said he may be with four Hispanic men.

That information, as well as a claim that he had been shot and abducted, came from texts the teen reportedly sent his family that afternoon.

The following day, the sheriff's office said there was no evidence to support those claims

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