A local Facebook group known for peddling in false news and conspiracy theories became a subject of controversy again today, leaving some parents worried there was a kidnapper on the loose in Monaca during the busiest shopping day of the year.
The rumor of a “possible kidnapping” in Monaca was started on the Facebook group “News Alerts of Beaver County,” founded and administered by Deanne Marie Romigh of Beaver Falls.
The group boasts more than 38,000 members.
Monaca Police Chief David Piuri told BeaverCountian.com there is no truth to the gossip.
“I just spoke to my guys on dayturn, they told me they saw this stuff on Facebook about a kidnapping,” he said.
“Nothing like that happened. We got no report of anything even remotely like that happening. It is not true.”
As regularly occurs on the group, the person who originally posted they “heard something about” it happening did not provide any details on her source of information.
“Is this true?” asked Jackie Theil in ending her post about what she claimed to have heard.
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