Boy Terrified of Dentist Invents Abduction Tale

Say you love going to the dentist? Well neither does a boy in France who concocted an entire kidnapping story to avoid admitting that he had ducked a dental visit, The Local reports. Police found the 12-year-old during a patrol of the Alpine village St Gervais last month, asked what was up, and listened to his tale of woe. The boy described his kidnapper in some detail—about 5'6", 30s, muscular, with (of course) a scar on his cheek—and explained how the abduction went down. He was supposedly headed for the dentist when the guy pulled up, asked for directions, dragged him in the car, and drove off.

Only during a surprise stop was the boy able to run away. Well, police investigated for a month, drawing up an e-fit image of the suspect and following leads, Midi Libre reports—until investigators noticed that closed-circuit TV images from the boy's hometown of Bagnols didn't quite match his story. So they pressed him further, and he admitted to concocting the whole thing because he was afraid of the dental chair. Exactly what his punishment will be isn't clear, notes Inquisitr. We might suggest a year of free cleanings. (On a serious note, a 3-year-old child suffered brain damage during a dental visit and died soon after.)