Boone County, Missouri: sheriff's office says a fake-kidnapping ransom call used an AI-generated copy of a resident's daughter's voice
The Boone County Sheriff's Office in Missouri said that on Friday 17 July 2026 a resident received a call whose caller ID showed their daughter's number. A voice that sounded like the daughter said she had been kidnapped at gunpoint, and another voice then demanded ransom. The office said it later determined that the voice was AI-generated, without saying how. Deputies found the daughter safe in Jefferson City and unaware of the call. The office called it the first AI voice-impersonation call it had encountered. No suspect had been identified by 19 July, and no source reports whether any money was paid.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 15/10/2026