PARK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — After investigating reports of a home invasion that led to a stabbing in Park Township Monday evening, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said the case has been determined to be unfounded and, according to them, did not occur at all.
In an interview Tuesday with the alleged victim, 22-year-old Marisa Zavala, she said, “What he did, you can’t run away from it. What’s done in the dark comes to light. He’s going to eventually be found and get the consequences he deserves.”
Zavala claimed, the night before, she came back from the grocery store to her home in Park Township, to find a stranger in her bedroom. After a short struggle ensued, said that stranger ended up stabbing her in the stomach with a pocket knife, before leaving the scene on foot.
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Zavala told FOX 17 she was 20 weeks pregnant and was worried someone was targeting her unborn child. So, she called 911 and the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office began investigating.
On Friday, Capt. Jake Sparks provided an update.
“They did a lengthy and thorough investigation," he said. "Talked with witnesses, met with the victim several times and also reviewed evidence. This case has been determined to be unfounded.”
He added, "I can tell you that there were some inconsistencies which led investigators to keep reviewing the evidence and keep speaking with people. At this point, it has been determined that it did not occur the way that it was originally described, and in fact, did not occur at all.”
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Capt. Sparks confirmed there is no suspect at large, and the community is safe.
Now, the next steps are to determine if this was in fact a false report.
“That is something the prosecutor’s office can review to determine if there’s a potential criminal charge that fits there," he said.
Capt. Sparks stressed how seriously the department takes every single call that comes in. He said situations like these don't happen all that often, but when they do, they can be harmful.
“We have a lot of cases that we work on," Capt. Sparks said. "The investigators have a lot on their caseload. If we do get something that’s unfounded, the time it takes away from those other actual cases — that can be detrimental to those investigations. So, I would obviously encourage everybody to tell the truth at all times.”
FOX 17 did reach out to Zavala and a friend about this update to get their side of the story. We sent an email and a couple of messages on Facebook, but have not yet heard back.
