Alleged Rape Victim Admits Story Is False

A woman who touched off a massive search by telling police she was raped in Griffith Park admitted she fabricated the story, authorities said Friday.

Los Angeles police said the woman told them Monday that she had been carjacked in Murrieta by a man with silver teeth and tattoos, who drove her 100 miles to Griffith Park and raped her repeatedly.

Police dispatched a helicopter, bloodhounds, officers on horseback and bicycles, and a SWAT unit to Griffith Park for a search that continued more than 24 hours.

But after police caught inconsistencies in her story, she admitted Thursday that she drove to the park by herself to meet someone with whom she had corresponded on the Internet, and made up the rape story to account for the time she spent away from home, Murrieta police said. She admitted planning the false report and buying duct tape on her way to Los Angeles.

Murrieta police would not release the woman’s name. They will recommend that the district attorney’s office charge her with filing a false police report.