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When the teen apparently vanished, his mother told police that she received a text from him which alleged that four Hispanic men had shot him before bundling him into a white van and driving away.

Before he vanished, local reports indicate that he was seen wearing a red "MAGA" hat.

Cops located his car near Marion County Airport, 80 miles from Orlando, and issued an Amber Alert to find the teen.

The teenager was later found “alive and well” on September 26.

However, Billy Woods, the Marion County Sheriff, now claims that the crime was an elaborate “hoax” devised by Speight.

In a social media video, Woods conceded that there were “red flags” early on in the case.

According to him, Speight "simply rode away towards Williston while the rest of us were left to think the worst, and my team was working in overdrive to solve this case."

To continue the ruse, Caden, who had a handgun with him since the beginning of all of this, chose to shoot himself in the leg.

“There is zero chance that Caden’s gunshot wound came from any type of assailant,” he added.

An investigation involving local, state, and federal agencies found that Speight purchased a bicycle, a tent, and camping supplies before disappearing.

top 50 comments
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[-] HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.org 5 points 14 hours ago

What's going on is clearly not good for the mental health of people.

[-] CatsPajamas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 12 hours ago

Like the woman who carved a B into her forehead in the mirror and said it was Obama supporters. They do this because they believe it's already happening but it's not being reported on so they HAVE to fake the very real thing that that definitely happens so that people will know that it happens!!!!

Wild.

[-] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago

Why would spider-man do that?!

Seriously, that pic looks like Tom Holland.

[-] pleaseletmein@lemmy.zip 26 points 1 day ago

(Shoots self) “Ha! Take that, Libs!”

[-] CH3DD4R_G0BL1N@sh.itjust.works 4 points 19 hours ago

Will we finally go full tilt and get to see one of them eat actual shit to make a “radical leftist” smell it?

[-] RedRibbonArmy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 12 hours ago

I mean the proud boys stick dildos in their asses to "own the libs".

[-] Microtonal_Banana@lemmy.zip 43 points 1 day ago

Totally not a cult of mentally disturbed people.

[-] rimu@piefed.social 133 points 1 day ago

Shoot yourself to own the libs.

Ok then?

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 6 points 1 day ago

Ok then?

Oh, Caden

[-] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 17 points 1 day ago

Sounds like a plan. Hopefully a nationwide one

[-] LiveLM@lemmy.zip 31 points 1 day ago

Mofo shot himself on the leg for no reason lmaooooo

[-] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago

My money is accidentally shout himself in the leg, the tried to cover it with the kidnapping story. But I don’t know the actual timeline, I’m just trying to rationalize the stupidity, which could be a mistake.

[-] seejur@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

No: as per aticle and Op post, he purchased camping supplies beforehand. He planned it

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 day ago

Holstered a loaded gun, safety off, in his belt like on TV. This kid has a future with ICE.

[-] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago

His last name is a homophone for “spite”. This shit writes itself.

[-] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Is that how you pronounce it? I would have pronounced it like "spate."

[-] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago

Meh, close enough. Just let me have this one

[-] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Hey! You know what? It looks like you were right! Nice work, my friend! Pizza and Mario Kart? Or if you want, my son and I have been getting into Lovers in Space. Cute game where characters have to run around your ship to get to different guns, shield, engine, and map to travel across space and kill attackers while freeing friendly animals. We could use a 3rd (And 4th).

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 59 points 1 day ago

They want to instigate a race war.

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 24 points 1 day ago

Republicans, man. Literally will hurt themselves if it harms those they hate. Did you happen to notice the party with control over all 3 branches of government just let it shut down...?

[-] D_C@sh.itjust.works 68 points 1 day ago

“Many of you have asked, ‘Will Caden be facing any charges?’
“‘What about the taxpayer cost of this large-scale investigation and search?’
“I can tell you those items are not off the table at this point,” the sheriff added.

That doesn't sound very convincing. The little shit deffo should be charged straight away.

You need the DA to bring charges against him. That could take a few days while they review the case.

[-] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 2 points 1 day ago

Does the state allow kids to be charged for something like this? I’m sure the cops want to charge him, or they probably wouldn’t have obliquely threatened it.

[-] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago

Jeez, the alternate timeline where Tom Holland turned to Meth is wild!

[-] tal@olio.cafe 47 points 1 day ago

The teenager was later found “alive and well” on September 26.

"Well" other than the self-inflicted gunshot wound, one imagines.

[-] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago
[-] YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today 1 points 15 hours ago

and...well...

...kinda dumb

[-] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago

Missed his head. Typical.

[-] kvasir476@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago

Sanest Florida-man

[-] _cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 day ago

How do you miss your own neck by that far?

[-] PixellatedDave@feddit.uk 11 points 1 day ago

Shouldn't he be on a terrorism charge?

[-] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 8 points 1 day ago
[-] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

But he did kidnap a MAGAt.

[-] anton 10 points 1 day ago

Reminds me of a nazi in Germany that had his friend hack of some of his fingers to blame it on radical leftists.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 day ago

What kind of idiot shoots themselves in the leg

[-] Zier@fedia.io 15 points 1 day ago
[-] Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 15 points 1 day ago

Don't forget about cops giving gun-safety classes.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] bigfondue@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Definitely something a Caden would do

[-] digital_man@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

ICE capades.

[-] ceph@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

This guy is a full blown loser.

[-] ideonek@piefed.social 8 points 1 day ago
[-] ultranaut@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Incite hate while becoming a new MAGA star. If it worked out he could become an influencer and be famous forever as the kid who escaped being kidnapped by scary brown folks.

[-] ideonek@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago
[-] don@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

I guess that depends on which one you’re talking to.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] rozodru@piefed.social 9 points 1 day ago

for the grift. There's money to be made being a facist in America because you can con your fellow facists for money. He wanted to be a martyr for "the cause" and then ride that clout for financial gain. go be on some podcasts, start his own podcast, start a crypto currency, etc, etc, etc.

To these idiots shooting oneself in the leg is a minimal price to pay for a potential multi-million dollar payday.

[-] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Tik-Tok "blame it on Mexicans" challenge.

Dude shot the wrong part of his body but that's not a surprise

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this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2025
580 points (100.0% liked)

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