The NYPD has abandoned a massive manhunt after reports of an abduction in Washington Heights Friday turned out to be unfounded, sources told The Post.
Cops suspect a brazen, broad-daylight abduction of a couple in Washington Heights was actually a prank, sources said.
After finding a least one person linked to the “kidnapping” — which was caught on video — police believe the incident was just a group of men playing a trick for a friend’s birthday.
Police searched the area with helicopters, checking missing persons databases and canvassed for additional witnesses. They also obtained and released a video of the reported abduction, which prompted one of the two so-called witnesses to tell cops the group was just playing around, sources said.
Investigators are interviewing the alleged victim and the fake captors to make sure they’re telling the truth, sources added.
No arrests are expected since the participants did not report a crime, sources added.
No missing-persons report appears to have been filed in the hours after an unidentified man and woman were forced with their bags into the minivan Saturday evening before it sped off in a wrong-way getaway in the vehicle.
Neighbors said masked men, who appeared to have guns, approached the couple at Haven Avenue and West 173rd Street.
“The woman looked at the man like she was surprised,” a witness said. “Then she got real scared when he grabbed her arm and led her to the car. He was hissing something in her ear. He took her by force.
“When she got in the car, I could hear her saying, ‘No! No! No!’ as the car door was closing. I could see something was wrong. They drove up the wrong way up Haven, and I ran home. I was scared.”
The supposed victims were walking west on 173rd Street and turning on to Haven Avenue when the apparent abduction occurred, cops said.