Description: Viral Facebook posting
Circulating since: Nov. 2010
Status: True / Outdated
Full text of posting:
Wall Photos
PLEASE CROSSPOST...URGENT! My daughter, Jackie Buyher, has been missing from the northwest side of Evansville, IN since Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. She is 16 years old, about 5'6" tall, sandy brown hair (straight, shoulder length), hazel eyes, and weighs approximately 120 lbs. Friends that I am in contact with, as well as school officials, have not seen her since that day. A missing person's report has been filled with the Evansville Police Dept., and recently has expanded to a nation-wide alert. If anyone has seen her, or think they may know her whereabouts, please dial 911 and report any information you may have to the Evansville PD.
By: Rachel Kunes Buyher
Analysis: True but outdated: Jackie Buyher has been found. The sixteen-year-old runaway was, in fact, reported missing on November 3, 2010, but was found by police five days later at a friend's house thanks to an anonymous tip in response to the Facebook posting.
It's the sort of happy ending we don't often seen with viral missing person alerts, which often turn out to be erroneous at best, or hoaxes at worst. "I don’t want to cry wolf too many times," said Rachel Buyher, Jackie's mother, in a statement to the Evansville Courier & Press, "but in a time when technology can be a curse, this is a blessing."
Please note that it's no longer necessary to repost the alert.
Sources and further reading:
Evansville Mom Turns to Facebook to Help Locate Runaway
Evansville Courier & Press, 9 November 2010
Last updated 11/09/10
