Three people in Ohio are accused of attempting to fake a sex offender's suicide by drowning

Matthew Hunt, 43, Breanna Watkins, 28, and Richard Newlen, 40, a registered sex offender, were charged for their involvement in an alleged fake drowning in Jefferson County Herald Star reported on Thursday.

It was initially believed to be a drowning incident when Hunt and Watkins claimed in a 911 call on Aug. 15 that they saw Newlen jump into a lake at Friendship Park in Steubenville. According to the Herald-Star, Newlen also gave Hunt and Watkins a suicide note to give to police.

The report of a possible drowning prompted multiple law enforcement agencies — including fire, police and sheriff's first responders — as well as three dive teams to respond. After dive teams failed to find Newlen's body in the lake, authorities began to question the validity of Hunt and Watskins' report Fox 8.

The outlet said Hunt and Watkins admitted to making up the report the next day.

Before Newlen was also found and arrested a few days later, Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said he was “disgusted” by the “wasted time and effort” that went into the search, calling it “a load of crap.”

“A 911 call was made and the subject reported that someone had gone into the lake after a fishing pole and dove in and did not resurface. At this point, emergency responders responded to the scene and began a rescue and recovery operation,” Abdalla told local broadcaster NBC and Fox affiliate WTOV. “As the day went on and we started to gather some information, we started to wonder whether or not someone had actually gone into the lake.”

“We are putting men and women at risk of entering this water,” he added. “We've wasted a lot of time and effort away from our families, all with a bunch of crap.” Mr. Newlen should turn himself in immediately, but I'm completely disgusted because, as I said, we're putting people's lives at risk put when we are looking for someone. We sat there looking in this heat yesterday afternoon. Went through three dive teams and for what as these witnesses to this alleged drowning sat there watching us.”

Hunt and Watson face charges of causing panic, false alarms and obstruction of justice, as well as forgery charges. Meanwhile, according to the Herald-Star, Newlen is also charged with causing panic and false alarms, as well as tampering with evidence.

Newlen — who is classified as a Tier II sex offender — was charged with illegal use of a minor in nude material in Washington County in 2013, according to the outlet. Authorities allegedly believe Newlen, Hunt and Watson staged the fake suicide because Newlen missed a deadline to report his location, which he is required to report every six months for 25 years as a Level II sex offender.

According to Law&Crime, citing online court records, the trio is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.