WASHINGTON — An Ohio man’s desperate posts on Facebook and Twitter that he’d been kidnapped and stuffed in the trunk of his car spurred an overnight search, but police now say the claim was a hoax. Adam Hoover, whose Twitter account says he is Co-president of Marriage Equality Ohio, sent messages early Tuesday pleading for help. In his posts, Hoover wrote “Please call 911. I don’t want them to hear me. Please call. I don’t want to die.”

Please help me I’m in the trunk of my ford escort red 2000 gbh 2812. They said they are going to kill my family … http://t.co/TkEdKHq11P — Adam Hoover (@h12adam) March 3, 2015

As police searched for him, the hashtag #FindAdamHoover was shared on social media. Initially, police believed he was abducted from the Chipotle restaurant where he worked. Hours later, Hoover’s vehicle was found unoccupied, and he was located nearby, unharmed. According to Cincinnati TV stations WCPO and WLWT, Green Township police and Hamilton County sheriff’s investigators interviewed Hoover before determining his story was phony. He is charged with making false claims — a first-degree misdemeanor.