FACT CHECK: Is There An Active Serial Killer In Baton Rouge, Louisiana?

Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Editor

An image shared on Facebook claims there is an active serial killer targeting women in Baton Rouge.

Verdict: False

There is no evidence of an active serial killer “bumping” women’s cars in the city, according to the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Fact Check:

The image shows what appears to be a Snapchat post featuring several blocks of text alleging there is a serial killer active in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “Serial killer in Baton Rouge,” reads text in the post. “Police say he bumps women’s cars and then when you pull over pulls a gun and tells you to get in his car. 3 women have been found in the Mississippi river.”

There is, however, no evidence of an active serial killer in Baton Rouge. An active serial killer certainly would warrant an announcement on the Baton Rouge Police Department’s website, yet no such threat was mentioned in any of the department’s press releases(RELATED: Does This Video Show Louisiana Law Enforcement Officers Sending A Message To Black Lives Matter And Antifa Activists?)

“The Department is aware of these allegations that are being spread online about the viral social media post,” a spokesperson for the department told Check Your Fact in a direct message on Facebook. “At this point in time, there is not anything to support any truthfulness to these allegations.”

The rumor may be related to the recent discovery of two bodies in the Mississippi River: Raemel Richardson and Kori Gauthier. Richardson’s body was found March 18 near the bank of the Mississippi River in Hester in St. James Parish, Louisiana, ABC News-affiliate WBRZ2 reported. Gauthier was found in the river in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, according to a statement from Louisiana State University (LSU).

There is no evidence that the two were killed by a serial killer or that their deaths are connected in any way. Richardson died from an apparent gunshot wound, and her boyfriend was later arrested as a suspect in the killing, according to The Advocate. LSU Chief of Police Bart Thompson said in the statement from the university that “there was no criminal activity or foul play involved” in Gauthier’s disappearance and death.

This is not the first time a baseless rumor about a serial killer has gone viral. Check Your Fact previously debunked in January a viral Facebook post claiming 19 female bodies, possibly the victims of a serial killer, were discovered in Portland, Oregon.

Brad Sylvester

Fact Check Editor
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