Posts about unidentified child supposedly “found” in several cities aren’t authentic

Social media posts are imploring viewers to share images of a child with cuts and scrapes on his face to supposedly reunite him with his family. 

“This little boy, approximately 2 years old, was found an hour ago here in Little Rock,” said one post in a public group titled Online Garage/Yard Sale. “He’s safe with officers at the Police Station, but we don’t know where he lives, and no one has called looking for him.”

But other Facebook accounts using the same images shared nearly identical posts in public Facebook groups for residents of places like Semmes, Alabama; Wayne County, West Virginia; and Baldwin County, Georgia. In each post, the only difference was the location where the boy was purportedly found. 

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Using a reverse-image search tool, we found several Facebook posts that made the same claim about the boy being found in different cities. 

The posts are similar to other posts we’ve fact-checked claiming that missing children were found in scattered locations. Those posts used different photos and claimed a specific officer found the boy pictured, but the script was the same: The accounts posted in public groups for different communities and asked users to share photos to help find the child’s family.

We looked for news stories and police announcements about an unidentified child being found in some of the cities that the posts referred to, but found no credible evidence to corroborate the claim. 

We rate claims these photos show a child “found” in different cities False.

By

Caleb McCullough

Staff writer

January 6, 2025

Truth-o-meter Ruling

False

IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT

• There’s no evidence such as news stories or police announcements to support the claims, which say the same child was found in several different cities, and the claims follow a similar script to ones we’ve debunked before.

Statement

Photo shows a child “found” in several cities.

Context

a post

Speaker/Target

Speaker: Facebook posts

Statement Date

January 1, 2025