A Facebook post containing what appeared to be a "breaking news" alert about a missing girl from DeLand has, naturally, caused some concern in Volusia County -- but it's not real. It's actually a promo for an upcoming independent movie.
It started as a message sent to us from a concerned viewer, wondering if the story about "Jessica Chapman," said to be a 16-year-old from DeLand who was reported missing following a trip to Hontoon Island State Park, was true.
The Facebook post included an image of a young girl, complete with a "Breaking News" banner, stock ticker and graphics for a fictional "Channel 5 News" TV station.
It was posted Wednesday by Careless Monster Productions, a California production company that appears to be working on an independent thriller film in Central Florida.
The film company sent out a casting call last month for women ages 30–45, saying "We're shooting a mystery/thriller movie short late October in the Daytona Beach/Orlando area."
That explains the use of locations like DeLand and Hontoon Island State Park, both in Volusia County.
Still, the photo was shared by nearly 400 people on Facebook, many thinking it was a real missing girl, because the caption did not appear to make it clear that it was just for a movie:
"BREAKING NEWS:
16 year old DeLand resident Jessica Chapman has been reported missing to police following a trip to Hontoon Island State Park. Ms. Chapman was last seen by her boyfriend Deltona resident Aaron Mullins. Mr. Mullins reported to park officials that she was last seen entering the woods. Park officials aided by Volusia County Sheriff helicopters and K-9 units are currently searching the island.
Anyone that might have information on the case is asked to contact The Volusia County Sheriff’s office. #Missingperson"
That post was followed by another picture of a fabricated article from a newspaper whose name starts "The Volusia…" before the image is cut off. The headline reads "Unknown creature stalking?" and the post contained the hashtags #Missingperson and #cryptozoology.
A third image posted by Careless Monster Productions showed a crime scene with dozens of police vehicles, said to be near the St. Johns River area.
Actually, it's from Iowa. We conducted a Google image search and found out the photo was actually swiped from an August article from the Des Moines Register about an escaped convict.
We reached out to Careless Monster Productions about the Facebooks posts. The company responded via email, saying it had "no comment on the matter."
However, after we posted this article Thursday afternoon, Careless Monster posted a link to it on Facebook, saying: "It looks like Orange Genetics' influence over the media is complete. Their tentacles influence our daily lives. We will continue to bring you the truth!"
This should certainly be an interesting film when it's done, but many who saw the "missing girl" posts agreed it may not have been the best way to promote it.