MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida teenager, who shot himself in the leg and fabricated his disappearance last month, is now facing an arrest and multiple charges.

On September 25, an Amber Alert was issued for 17-year-old Caden Speight, predicated on claims that he was kidnapped by four men in a van following a shooting on SW Highway 484 near SW 128th Avenue in Dunnellon.

Upon further investigation, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods stated that Speight had concocted these details, which he had texted to his family.

New insights in the investigation were disclosed by the sheriff’s office on Tuesday. Deputies reported locating the truck Speight was driving at the Dunnellon scene, but he was not present.

Investigators discovered a bullet hole in the car’s windshield, suspected blood, a heavily damaged cellphone belonging to Speight, as well as drag marks in the dirt and bike tracks leading away from his truck. 

Testing eventually revealed that Speight had fired the shot through the windshield, splattered a mixture of blood in the truck and destroyed his cellphone, according to the sheriff’s office. Then, deputies say he fled the area on the bike with camping supplies he got from Walmart just before reporting the incident.

“While continuing the investigation, detectives additionally learned that Speight had mentioned running away before, and they located ChatGPT searches on his laptop about collecting his blood without causing pain and Mexican cartels,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

On Sept. 26, authorities found Speight on Noble Avenue in Williston, where he had a handgun and the bicycle. Deputies say he “attempted to continue the ruse” and had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his leg, which shattered his femur and required medical treatment.

Speight was arrested Tuesday and taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The sheriff’s office said he now faces presenting false evidence, shooting into a conveyance, making a false report of a crime and possession of a firearm by a minor.