KINGS MOUTAIN, N.C. -- At one point Sunday morning a Kings Mountain convenience store’s parking lot was full of police cars and crews frantically sending out an Amber Alert for a 5-month-old boy.

His mother, Jeanette Michelle Goforth, claimed he was inside her car when it was stolen from the store while she went inside late Saturday night. But now police say that story was made up.

Within hours after Goforth issued an emotional plea for the return of her baby, the child’s father had brought the him to the Kings Mountain Police Department. He told them the baby was never missing and was never inside the stolen car.

On Monday afternoon Goforth turned herself into police and was charged with making a false report to police. While she wouldn’t comment on the situation, others in Cleveland County have plenty to say. They’re angry that police had to waste their time.

“They could have been out solving a crime or stopping somebody from getting raped or murdered or anything. But instead they was out looking for a bogus call,” said Scott Rayfield, a Kings Mountain resident.

Others wonder if false calls will lessen the public's interest in future Amber Alerts.

“I don’t think that they'll pay any attention to it at all. It's going to get to that point if it don't stop,” said Rachel Kobee.

So far neither the Kings Mountain police nor the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department is saying why Goforth would have made up a story about her son being abducted.