MARION COUNTY, FL (352Today.com) – Caden Speight, the 17-year-old Marion County resident who in late September allegedly shot himself in the leg, faked his own abduction and blamed it on four Hispanic males, has been arrested by the Marion Couty Sheriff’s Office.
Speight, whose disappearance on Sept. 25, 2025, triggered a brief but massive manhunt, was charged on Oct. 14 with Presenting False Evidence, Shooting into a Conveyance, Making a False Report of a Crime, and Possession of a Firearm by a Minor.
After Speight sent a text message to his mother saying he was being abducted, video surfaced of him purchasing a tent, sleeping bag and bicycle at a Marion County Walmart, and he was found by authorities in Williston with a gunshot wound to his leg. On Sept. 29, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods held a press conference in which he stated that an investigation into the incident led to the conclusion that Speight had fabricated the details of the abduction, and that charges might be pending.
Speight is currently being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice.