Alleged victim of kidnapping arrested

VAIL – Police arrested the victim in an alleged kidnapping case Sunday, saying that the man concocted his own abduction.Michael Sean Moore, 35, was reported kidnapped Thursday night by his wife, who told police that two armed men broke into the couple’s East Vail home and forced him to leave with them in his own car.Moore was found Saturday afternoon at a friend’s home in Avon. After talking to Moore, police determined that he had lied about the kidnapping, said Detective Sgt. Susan Douglas. He was charged yesterday with aggravated robbery, false imprisonment, menacing with a deadly weapon, theft, false reporting to authorities and domestic violence.”He was the one who actually committed [those crimes] against his wife,” Douglas said Sunday. “She’s the victim.”Douglas would not say why Moore allegedly arranged for his own kidnapping because it would hurt the police investigation. Police are still trying to find the men who broke into the couple’s home. They are accomplices in Moore’s crimes, she said.Moore’s wife, whose identity has not be released, was taken to a safehouse after she called police Thursday. Police still won’t release her name or her whereabouts to ensure her safety. Before finding Moore, police had said that the couple were specifically targeted.Moore’s wife believed the abduction was real until the police investigation revealed otherwise, Douglas said.”She’s in shock, obviously very upset and angry,” Douglas said. “But she’s very strong and she’s dealing with this extremely well.”Douglas said she didn’t know yet if Moore’s alleged accomplices are local residents. Police also don’t know if the friend whose house they found Moore in is involved.Investigators started to doubt that the kidnapping was real on Friday afternoon, Douglas said. Moore’s credit card was used in Denver early Friday, and he called his wife Friday night to tell her he had escaped and that he was OK, police said. He also told her he was afraid he was in trouble with the police because he had to injure his abductors to escape, according to police reports.”Things were not adding up in the investigation, and we were trying to find reasons as to why things weren’t making sense,” Douglas said. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Vail Police Department at 970-479-2200.