German girl cooks up kidnap story after cutting off hair

A 10-year-old German girl who gave herself a radical haircut and then feared her parents' reaction claimed she was kidnapped by a man armed with a pair of scissors, authorities said Wednesday. Police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe in the northern city of Hanover said the girl ran to a neighbour Tuesday with the story that someone had broken into her house, threatened her with scissors and held her cptive for a short time. The neighbour alerted the police, Schiewe said. "Officers went to the scene, took down statements and launched a manhunt for a supposed perpetrator on the run," he said. "We dispatched a few police cars." The girl admitted hours later that she and her brother had found the scissors in the basement and given themselves a major trim.