Photo shows newborn who went missing in 2020, not recent case | Fact check
The claim: Photo shows abandoned newborn found in Georgia, North Carolina
A June 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a photo of a swaddled baby in a pink cap that it claims was abandoned.
“BREAKING UPDATE: A newborn baby has been found by the police this morning here in Americus,” reads the start of the post, referring to a Georgia city. “Let us flood our feeds and help identify who this newborn baby belongs to.”
It was shared nearly 600 times in less than a week. Another version of the claim stating the baby was found in "Fort Bragg," North Carolina was shared almost 400 times.
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Our rating: False
Officials from both locations told USA TODAY they have no reports of any such incidents in their areas. The baby shown in the image went missing in 2020.
Copy-and-paste posts are 'gullibility check' for scammers
Neither the Georgia nor the North Carolina claim have merit.
“We believe this to be an internet hoax,” said April Olsen, a spokesperson for the Fort Liberty military post in North Carolina. The installation referenced in the Facebook post as "Fort Bragg" was renamed Fort Liberty in June 2023.
There are no reports from local law enforcement, medical services or fire officials matching the description in the post, Olsen said.
Americus Police Department Chief Mark Scott also said the Georgia claim is “completely false.”
Fact check: Posts that describe wandering boy are social media scams, photo dates to 2020
The same photo appears in various news reports about a January 2020 Amber Alert for 1-week-old Andrew Caballeiro, who was reported missing out of Florida.
Ernesto Caballeiro, the boy's father, was identified as his abductor by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Ernesto Caballeiro was later found dead. The child was still missing as of June 2024.
Jeffrey Blevins, a professor at the University of Cincinnati and a misinformation expert, previously told USA TODAY such copy-and-paste schemes are a "gullibility check" scammers use to identify potential victims. Signs a post might be a scam include having comments disabled and coming from a newly created Facebook account. Comments were disabled on the posts in question.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of similar online scams, including those with false assertions a photo showed an abandoned newborn found in Kansas, Alabama and Arkansas.
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, accessed July 3, Andrew Caballeiro
April Olsen, July 2, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Florida Department of Law Enforcement, accessed July 2, Amber Alert for Andrew Caballeiro
Mark Scott, July 2, Email exchange with USA TODAY
WPEC-TV, Jan. 17, Two Florida children missing for years highlighted on AMBER Alert Day
WSVN-TV, Jan. 29, 2020, Father from SW Miami-Dade AMBER Alert found dead in Pasco County, newborn still missing
WTVT-TV, Jan. 29, 2020, Amber Alert: Father found dead, baby still missing; witness reports seeing blonde female in van
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Social media claims of abandoned newborn are scams | Fact check
