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  • 2016-06-10 (xsd:date)
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  • 'Terrifying Warning' About Ice Cream Trucks and Chloroform (en)
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  • On 10 June 2016, the Facebook pages Trending Styles and Stylish Guru published links to a terrifying warning to all mothers of girls. The linked page claimed people driving ice cream trucks are attempting to kidnap children using chloroform: The rumor lacked any evidence that any such thing had ever happened, much less was a daily occurrence. It also lacked dates, places, police departments involved, the origin of the warning, and links to news where such an act occurred. According to the rumor, ice cream truck drivers had attempted to kidnap some girls but failed because the amount of people around (also known as witnesses) prevented it. We looked for even one instance of a Mr. Softee truck targeting young girls with chloroform, but came up short. The image used to illustrate the post almost certainly didn't involve a Softee victim to the left, and the photograph to the right was a popular European stock image of an ice cream truck (unrelated to kidnappings or chloroform). In April 2016, a single incident involving an unlicensed ice cream truck made headlines in Kansas City, Missouri. On 4 April 2016, the outlet WDAF-TV reported on a mother's concern that an ice cream truck driver planned (not attempted) to kidnap her child: A 7 April 2016, a follow-up piece from the same outlet reported that police located the individuals operating the ice cream truck, and cited them for lacking a business license and seat belt violations (not kidnapping): The Kansas City Police Department told us that the truck's owners were not suspected in any attempted abductions. The police department representative described the female suspect as affectionate, but neither dangerous nor suspected of being a potential kidnapper. The ice cream truck/chloroform rumor wasn't the first story spread by the multitude of Stylish or Trending pages on Facebook. In June 2015, a similar page spread baseless rumors of Facebook scouting by kidnappers. Summer frequently ushers in an uptick of kidnap warnings on social media, many of which lead to additional reports based solely on escalating fears of abduction (but not an actual elevated risk). (en)
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