Fact Check

Missing Girl: Jackie Buyher

Jackie Buyher: missing child or Internet hoax?

Published Nov. 9, 2010

Claim:

Claim:   A 16-year-old girl named Jackie Buyher is missing from her Evansville, Indiana, home.


OUTDATED


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, November 2010]


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 filed 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



 

Origins:   According to the Evansville Courier & Press, after Rachel Buyher’s 16-year-old daughter Jackie went missing from her Evansville, Indiana, home on 3 November 2010, she turned to the local police, and then several days later to Facebook to help get the word out:



When Rachel Buyher's 16-year-old daughter ran away Nov. 3, Facebook wasn't her first step to find the missing girl.

It wasn't until Sunday — five days after Jackie disappeared and Buyher filed a missing persons report with the Evansville Police Department — that she turned to the Internet.

She posted a picture of her daughter, a description of the teen and a request that people with information contact the police. She also asked others on Facebook to cross post the picture.

Rachel Buyher said she picked her daughter up at school on Nov. 3 and brought her to the Humane Society, where Rachel Buyher works, because Jackie Buyher had a doctor's appointment later in the day. When Rachel Buyher went looking for the teen during her lunch break, Jackie Buyher was gone.


An update posted to the Rachel Kunes Buyher Facebook page on 9 November 2010 indicated that Jackie has since been found:



PLEASE CROSSPOST!.......JACKIE BUYHER HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS SAFE....WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR COMPASSION AND SUPPORT....SO RELIEVED TO KNOW SHE'S OK, AND THAT THE WORLD IS STILL BLESSED WITH GENUINELY GOOD PEOPLE. HOPE YOU FIND PEACE IN KNOWING YOU MAY HAVE SAVED A LIFE. AGAIN, FROM MY HEART....THANK YOU.

The Courier & Press added that:



On [8 November], Buyher received a phone call from police saying the teen had been found at a friend's house and [they] were holding her on a violation of probation. Buyher said officers received an anonymous tip about the girl's location.

Last updated:   9 November 2010


Sources:




    Roll, Max.   "Evansville Mom Turns to Facebook to Help Locate Runaway."

    Evansville Courier & Press.   9 November 2010.


David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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