TikTok prank leads to Jackson woman’s arrest

JACKSON, Tenn. — Monday night, one woman scared her family and loved ones with what they thought was a real call for help.

Jackson police were notified of a call from concerned family members that their loved one, Marketa Kinnon, messaged them that she was being kidnapped and in danger.

“She had contacted her family initially through text messages, saying that she had been kidnapped and needed help. Gave a vehicle description and the police were called,” said Capt. Christopher Chestnut, with the Jackson Police Department.

Kinnon told her sister that she was kidnapped and was being held in the trunk of a vehicle, causing officers to look for what they didn’t know at the time was a non-existent suspect.

“There was a staged phone call. She had someone pretend to be her abductor yelling at her through the phone. Of course this initiated a police response where we were out trying to locate her and the vehicle,” Chestnut said.

At approximately 4:01 p.m., officers responded to Kinnon’s last known location at her home on Manchester Bay.

But upon arrival, officers were shocked to see that the person who answered the door was actually Kinnon herself.

“Officers made contact with her at her home and she informed them that it was a TikTok challenge and she was trying to prank her family,” Chestnut said.

But no one was smiling after this so-called prank, as Kinnon was arrested for filling a false report.

Officers stress that claims like these pull officers away from their current duties, especially in recent light of abductions across the state.

“It’s putting people in danger to anybody driving a vehicle similar to that description, wouldn’t know why the police are stopping them, pulling officers off of calls that they’d be handling at a normal basis, and just pulls people away from the community they’re trying to protect and serve,” Chestnut said.

Kinnon was seen in court and arraigned Wednesday in Jackson City Court. Her bond is set at $3,000 and she will be seen in City Court again on Nov. 23 at 9:30 a.m.

Find updates on local crime here.