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Florida mom accused of faking her child's abduction to frame business partner

Posted at 8:07 AM, Jul 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-23 09:10:48-04

(WFLA) A Florida mother is accused of orchestrating an elaborate fake attempted abduction of her child, and pointing the blame at a former business partner.

Tammy Steffen is charged with child neglect, filing a false police report, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Steffen, 36, of Holiday, was arrested July 18, six days she called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office to report that a man tried to drag her 12-year-old daughter into the woods behind the family's home, deputies said.

According to deputies, Steffen also said that she and her child were receiving threatening phone calls and messages from an unknown person.

Steffen led investigators to the woods, where they found items including a laptop cover and a notepad containing information about the woman and her child. 

Steffen's daughter provided a description of the alleged abductor to investigators, and Steffen named a former business partner as a possible suspect. When shown a photo of the business partner, the 12-year-old girl identified him as the man who tried to kidnap her.

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