Case management conference set for Tiffin man arrested after kidnapping hoax
Lang
6/8/19
A case management conference has been set for a Tiffin man accused in an elaborate kidnapping hoax.
26-year-old Frank Arnold Tanke of Kimberlite Street will appear before a judge on July 15th on a charge of Making False Reports to a Public Safety Entity.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office received calls from Tanke’s family and friends on March 5th reporting that he’d been kidnapped and was going to be killed. Arrest records indicate Tanke’s mother shared a photo of her son that showed him bound and gagged lying in a snow-filled ditch. One of Tanke’s friends said he received a message that Tanke was bleeding out and only had one hour to live.
Multiple deputies spent the night unsuccessfully looking for Tanke.
Just before 10 the next morning Tanke returned home and his mother called 9-1-1. Tanke told investigators he’d been kidnapped by two men dressed in black, wearing ski masks and carrying handguns. He said he’d been knocked out, gagged, tied up and thrown in a vehicle. Tanke claimed the two men drove him to a remote location, threw him in a ditch and stayed with him through the night. He said he was able to escape the next morning and run home.
An investigation determined that Tanke had fabricated the entire story. If convicted on the false reports charge, he faces a maximum of one year in jail.
Tanke has a lengthy criminal history, including burglary, theft and forgery convictions in Washington and Iowa counties.