B.C. Mounties take unusual step of publicly debunking online serial killer rumour

An online rumour claiming a serial killer is targeting female residents in B.C.'s North Okanagan has caught the attention of local Mounties who say they felt compelled by its wide circulation to come forward and debunk it.

On Thursday, the Vernon RCMP announced they hadn't received any reports of the killer or evidence of one and urged people not to share information they see on the Internet unless they have confirmed its validity.

Over the past several weeks, a growing number of social media posts circulated in the Vernon community claimed that at least eight young women had been attacked and their bodies left in dumpsters.

The posts also claimed that the police and media outlets didn't make it public because they didn't want to compromise Vernon's status as a tourist destination.

False post getting lots of attention

Vernon RCMP spokesperson Const. Chris Terleski says police felt they had to step in to tell people it's not true and not to spread the rumours, that he says are getting lots of attention.

"We wanted to make sure that we got the message out there that the information being spread was false [and] untrue. We don't want to cause any undue alarm, and we just really want to put the public at ease and dispel those rumours," Terleski said Friday to host Sarah Penton on CBC's Radio West.

"They're expanding on the information as you see it — the misinformation's growing, a number of themes are being entered into it. And we don't want that."

Terleski asks people not to jump to any conclusions whenever they see unverified information on the internet. He says the police will release accurate information about their investigations through trusted media outlets in a timely manner. 

The RCMP notes that if there are incidents that have not been reported to police, they urge people with information to report those incidents so that they can investigate.