Amber Alert Issued was False — Mother Facing Charges

Yesterday, an Amber Alert went off for those in the downtown Columbus area — phones buzzed, tvs flashed and radios alerted drivers. Except, it was all false. There was no missing child as previously reported.

Jessica Pickett called 911 around 7:30am, not to report her “missing” child but instead to report that her car had been stolen with her 4-year-old daughter inside. The mother reportedly told police that while loading her kid into the car, she went back inside to grab the other one and the car was nabbed.

The added details, according to Police, were invented to make police find her car faster. The Amber Alert prompted a city-wide search, with “every resource” being used — dozens of officers, helicopter, k9, sexual assault units were all searching for 4-year-old Janylia.

“Indications she gave detectives was she made up the story to find her car (stolen) faster,” said Sgt. Terry McConnell, CPD’s Sexual Assault Unit.

The little girl ended up being at her godmother’s house overnight, in no danger — the family allegedly knew nothing about the report, the amber alert or the stolen car.

The stolen car was eventually found, although whether or not it was faster and more importantly, worth the lie, is up in the air

Picket was charged with falsification.

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