YOUNGSTOWN — A South Side girl, 16, was charged in Mahoning County Juvenile Court on Tuesday with felonies of making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, extortion, theft and possession of criminal tools after she allegedly made up a story about being kidnapped.

The girl is alleged to have done it to extort money from her father, Youngstown police said in a news release.

Early Tuesday, police were called to her house in the 700 block of Sherwood Avenue for a runaway who had left in the middle of the night. Then her parents realized they had received several text messages from her saying she was kidnapped, had a gun to her head and that her captors were demanding ransom money.

Phone calls from the alleged captors followed, the news release states.

Youngstown police officers searched the area for the girl, and the detective division and Special Victims Unit, along with the Child Abduction Response Team, began an in-depth investigation that lasted five hours and spanned multiple jurisdictions.

Investigators learned the girl may have “orchestrated the scheme,” and she was located safe and unharmed not far from her home, police said. She was interviewed by the Special Victims Unit and booked into the Juvenile Justice Center.

Capt. Jason Simon of the city police department stated in addition to the “remarkable investigative work conducted by Youngstown police officers,” investigators and management, these other agencies deserve credit for solving the case: the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, FBI Youngstown office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“All of these agencies exerted investigative excellence in bringing this case to a rapid conclusion and giving closure to a family who was led to believe their daughter would be murdered,” Simon stated.

“Furthermore, we want to emphasize that actions such as these — whether committed by juveniles or adults — are serious criminal matters and will be investigated and criminally prosecuted.”