An 11-year-old boy who told police in Palos Verdes Estates that two men tried to kidnap him last week retracted his story Friday, telling detectives he made it up and expressing remorse.

Investigators do not know why the youth concocted the story, but said it is possible he could face charges of making a false police report and be forced to make restitution for the hours spent on the police investigation, including paying an artist to create a suspect sketch.

The boy told police May 28 that a 1980s brown van pulled up to him at 3:30 p.m. as he walked home from a bus stop at Coronel Plaza and Via Margarita. He said the driver asked for directions and, when he moved closer to the van, a second person opened the sliding side door, grabbed his backpack and tried to pull him inside.

The boy said he broke free and ran home.

Palos Verdes Estates police issued an alert to the public the next day. A Torrance Police Department artist worked with the boy on May 30 to create a detailed sketch of the driver, complete with his age, buzz-cut hairstyle, and tanned skin with a light patch on one cheek.

The van, he said, was brown with a light-colored horizontal stripe running down both sides, oval side windows, and mini-blinds in the rear.

“He had such a good description of the van, a great description of the suspect,” Barber said. “We believed it actually had happened.”

Detectives received 300 tips about possible sightings of the van and suspects, and spent the week investigating them.

“His first few interviews we conducted with him, his story was the same, very consistent,” Barber said. “We decided as a group here we were going to investigate it as it did happen.”

Questioned again on Friday, the boy recanted, Barber said.

“We asked him a few questions. Nothing added up in the end,” Barber said. “It’s just one of those things. We felt it was a good one and it turns out that it wasn’t.”

The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department issued a statement thanking the community and media “for their swift and effective assistance in raising awareness on our behalf,” but asking law enforcement agencies and the public to “disregard the bulletin related to this incident.”