Deputies: Mom lied about kidnapping that prompted Amber Alert
A Lincolnton woman lied about a kidnapping that prompted a statewide Amber Alert for her 3-year-old daughter late Sunday, Lincoln County sheriff's deputies said.
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Deputies told WBTV of Charlotte that they are working to have charges dismissed against Troy Lee Koonce Jr., who was arrested after he was found with his daughter, Christina Koonce.
The mother, Mary Bowen, will be charged, deputies said.
Bowen initially told deputies that Troy Koonce was her cousin and ex-boyfriend. But investigators found Koonce was listed as Christina’s father on her birth certificate.
WBTV reported that Bowen told deputies she and Troy Koonce went to the store after he came to her home Sunday afternoon about 3 p.m. When they returned, she told him she would not go back to the home they had shared in Washington.
Troy Koonce then left with the child, and Bowen reported it as a kidnapping. An Amber Alert was issued about 11:40 p.m. Sunday and canceled shortly before 1 a.m. Monday when father and daughter were found in Beaufort County.
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