A 17-year-old Marion County boy accused of faking his abduction, which led to an Amber Alert and multi-agency search, will avoid going to trial after pleading no contest to several felony charges.
On Thursday morning, Caden Rex Speight pleaded nolo contendere (no contest). He was arrested last week by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on the following charges: presenting false evidence, shooting into a conveyance, making a false report of a crime, and possession of a firearm by a minor.
A sentencing date for Speight has not been scheduled yet.
Back on September 25, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert for Speight. Authorities initially stated that Speight was last seen in Dunnellon at around 4:10 p.m. that afternoon, and it was believed that he may have been shot and abducted by four Hispanic individuals who were traveling in a van.
MCSO stated that a family location safety app, Life360, indicated that Speight’s last known location was in the 12800 block of SW Highway 484 in Dunnellon. When deputies arrived there, they found an abandoned truck that belonged to Speight.
While inspecting the abandoned truck, law enforcement observed “a bullet hole through the windshield” and “suspected blood.” Speight’s “severely damaged cellphone” was also found, along with “drag marks in the dirt” and “bicycle tracks” that led away from the vehicle, according to MCSO.
Several state and federal agencies assisted MCSO with the search for Speight, and it was soon discovered that Speight had purchased a bicycle, a tent, and camping supplies from an Ocala Walmart shortly before he went missing. He had also allegedly sent text messages to his family claiming that he had been “shot and abducted.”
According to MCSO, investigators determined that Speight had “fired the shot through the windshield, splattered a mixture of blood in the truck, and destroyed his cellphone.”
An eyewitness spoke with investigators and reported that Speight had left the area on a bicycle.
While investigating Speight’s disappearance, detectives learned that he had “mentioned running away before.” On his laptop, ChatGPT searches about “collecting his blood without causing pain” and “Mexican cartels” were also allegedly found.
On September 26, the search for Speight came to an end when Williston Police Department officers located him in the 700 block of W Noble Avenue. He allegedly had a handgun and bicycle in his possession.
Speight had sustained a gunshot wound to his leg, which investigators determined was “self-inflicted.” His femur was “shattered,” and he was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment, according to MCSO.
Following MCSO’s investigation, Speight was placed under arrest and transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice.