This story was first published on September 24, 2015
According to a report circulating rapidly via social media, Casey Anthony has been found dead.
Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter in 2008 but was later acquitted of murder charges amid widespread public outrage.
The circulating news report claims that a partially dismembered body suspected to be that of Casey Anthony was found by a traveller in the back of a pickup truck near a parking area in Ohio.
However, the claims in the report are false. Casey Anthony has not been found dead. There are no credible reports that confirm the claims in the supposed news story in any way.
The false story comes from a fake-news website called ‘Now8News’. Although the site’s material is presented in news format, most of its stories are simply made up in an effort to attract more visitors. And, to confuse things even further, the site sprinkles a few factual reports among the nonsense. But, alas, the site makes no effort to let people know which of its stories are true and which are fiction. Thus, many readers are apt to pass on the site’s material in good faith.
There are now many fake-news sites like ‘Now8News’. It is thus wise to verify any supposed news reports that come your way via social media before you share them. Searching a news portal such as Google News will usually reveal if a circulating report is true. Of course, if a high-profile and much-reviled person such as Casey Anthony had been found dead, her demise would be widely reported by the mainstream media, not only in the US but around the world.
An example of the fake-news post:
News 8 – Unconfirmed reports coming out of Warren, Ohio state that the body of Casey Anthony was found in a rest stop near I-71, bludgeoned to death. At 1:37 PM on Monday, a traveler noticed a body in the back of a pickup truck abandoned in a grassy field about 20 yards from the parking area as he was walking his dog.
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Brett Christensen
