It was a story bound to unleash a storm of news coverage: A black 12-year-old girl reported that three white boys had pinned her down in a school playground and cut off her dreadlocks.

It was the same private Christian school in Virginia where the vice president’s wife was a part-time teacher, which only fueled the social media outrage.

The police said they were investigating. The girl and her family gave interviews to TV networks and newspapers.

But in a matter of days, the story fell apart.

On Monday, the school announced that the girl had admitted the story was a lie, and that her family had apologized.