Toddler Found Under Unusual Circumstances — Who Is He? g
The Bruised Toddler That Wasn’t: How a Fake Facebook Post Fooled Thousands
It was the kind of post that stops you mid-scroll — a haunting image of a bruised toddler, paired with a desperate plea for help. According to the viral Facebook story, the boy had been found wandering alone in the night by a police officer named “Deputy Tyler Cooper” in either Hereford or King’s Lynn. The message urged users to share widely, in hopes of reuniting the child with his family.
The problem? None of it was true.
Within days, local police departments were inundated with concerned calls — but not one report backed the story. West Mercia Police publicly confirmed there was no record of such an incident in Hereford, and no officer named Tyler Cooper on their force. Norfolk Constabulary echoed the same: nothing happened in King’s Lynn, and “Deputy” isn’t even a rank used in their system.
What appeared to be a heartbreaking cry for help was, in fact, a digital hoax — carefully engineered to spread rapidly through emotion, confusion, and misplaced compassion.
Why These Hoaxes Work — and Why They Keep Coming Back
These types of viral deceptions are nothing new, but they’re becoming more sophisticated. The formula is consistent: an emotional trigger, vague details, and a call to action that plays on urgency and goodwill.
What’s worse, these posts are often later edited — the emotional story swapped out for scam links, fake real estate ads, or bogus cashback offers. By the time the bait-and-switch happens, the post may already have thousands of shares.
It’s a tactic that preys on empathy while building a huge audience for shady online marketers or fraudsters.
Digital Compassion Meets Caution
It’s easy to get caught up in stories like this. After all, what if it were real? No one wants to be the person who ignored a child in need. But that same instinct is exactly what hoax creators exploit.
To protect yourself and others:
Check local police or news pages before sharing.
Reverse image search suspicious photos to see if they’ve been reused.
Be wary of vague locations or unverifiable names.
Report suspicious posts to the platform to limit their reach.
Final Thoughts: A New Kind of Vigilance
The false story of the “lost toddler” may seem like a harmless fluke, but it highlights a growing problem in the digital age: emotional manipulation masquerading as news. As platforms like Facebook continue to serve as both information hubs and rumor mills, it’s up to all of us to be thoughtful in what we share.
When compassion is used as clickbait, everyone loses — especially those who genuinely need help. Stay alert, verify first, and don’t let fake stories cloud real ones that deserve our attention.
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1 Six Democrats urge military members
A group of Democrat lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds released a video Tuesday urging service members to "refuse illegal orders," a message conservatives blasted as a call to defy President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The one-minute video, posted by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and viewed more than 1.6 million times, features six lawmakers invoking their prior service while telling members of the military and intelligence community that "the threats to our Constitution are coming from right here at home."
Slotkin and her colleagues have spent recent weeks introducing legislation to limit President Trump’s ability to deploy National Guard members domestically or launch military action against narcoterrorists without congressional approval
None of that context appears in the video, titled "Don’t Give Up the Ship," which instead frames the appeal as a warning to military members to "stand up for our laws" and "refuse unlawful orders."
Conservative accounts countered the viral clip, citing military law and interpreting the call to action as an alleged appeal to commit treason against the United States.
"Elected Democrats just released a video encouraging members of the military to commit treason and defy orders from Trump and Hegseth," wrote the conservative account Libs of TikTok.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., added: "At the end of the day, they’re mad the American people chose Trump and now they’re calling on the Military and Intelligence Community to intervene. Sounds a little ‘subversive to democracy’-ish."
The Department of War directed Fox News Digital to Hegseth’s response, which simply read, "Stage 4 TDS," referring to "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Slotkin’s "No Troops in Our Streets Act," detailed in a Nov. 13 release, would give Congress the power to block National Guard deployments inside American cities. President Trump has expanded National Guard operations to Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago amid violent crime.
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., simultaneously introduced a War Powers Continuing Resolution on Tuesday to block the president from ordering strikes on drug traffickers in the Caribbean—actions Crow described in a release as "unauthorized and illegal."
Both Democrats argue their bills are about asserting congressional authority, not politics. The viral video shared Tuesday, set to triumphant music, does not explicitly mention either piece of legislation.
Lawmakers appearing in the video include Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow. Several recite a version of the line: "You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders."
The branches and agencies represented among the lawmakers include the Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency.
"Some in the administration and media are actively working to distort that message into something dark or divisive," Houlahan said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Let me be absolutely clear: there is nothing more patriotic, nothing more stabilizing and nothing more true to the rule of law than reminding our military of their constitutional obligations and reassuring them that, if they are ever given an unlawful order, they do not have to carry it out."
"‘Don’t Give Up the Ship’ is not a slogan of rebellion—it is a historic naval motto that has always stood for steadfastness, duty and loyalty to country. That is the backbone of American civil-military tradition," she added.
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The video follows a 43-day government shutdown during which American troops continued receiving pay under the Trump administration.
The White House, Slotkin, Kelly, Deluzio, Goodlander and Crow did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Pennsylvania Turnpike crash involving tour bus, semi-trucks leaves multiple dead; highway closed
Multiple people were killed in a major crash involving a tour bus on its way to Ohio from New Jersey and three semi-trucks on the Pennsylvania Turnpike early Sunday in the western part of the state that left dozens injured, according to officials.
The "extremely serious" crash happened around 3:40 a.m. Sunday in the highway's westbound lanes in Mount Pleasant Township, located about 40 miles southeast of downtown Pittsburgh, according to Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Stephen Limani.
Limani said there were five fatalities and about 60 injuries as a result of the crash. Of those injured -- ranging in age from 7 to "into their 60's" -- two are listed in critical condition, according to Limani.
Pennsylvania State Police said the tour bus was traveling westbound on the highway from Rockaway, New Jersey to Cincinnati on a downhill curve when it struck an embankment and rolled over. After the bus rolled over, it was then struck by two semi-trucks before a third truck collided with the two other semis involved in the initial crash. Another vehicle then also became ensnared in the crash site.
A total of six vehicles were involved in the crash, including a tour bus, three semi-trucks loaded with parcels and one private passenger vehicle, according to police.
Multiple people were killed after a major crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike early Sunday. (KDKA-TV via NNS)
State police said that a total of 39 people were transported to area hospitals, including 28 sent to Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant and 11 transported to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville.
Images from the scene showed mangled wreckage on the highway. A tour bus could be seen flipped on its side as a result of the crash.
The crash happened on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Westmoreland County, around 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. (KDKA-TV via NNS)
Angela Maynard, a tractor-trailer driver from Kentucky, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review she was traveling eastbound with her co-driver on the turnpike around 3:30 a.m. when they came across the crash.
“It was horrible,” she said.
Maynard told the newspaper she saw someone on the ground, while another person was trapped in their truck.
“I walked toward the scene and saw one of the truck drivers laying [sic] near the barrier. I tried to keep him occupied, keep talking, until medical help arrived," Maynard told the Tribune-Review. "He was in bad shape. He was floating in and out of consciousness.”
The bus, part of Z&D Tours, was filled with passengers mostly from other countries, according to Limani. He said two "most prominent" languages were Japanese or Spanish, but officials are still working on identifying those who were killed or injured due to many having documents and identification that are still at the crash scene.
"It's just a lot going on when it comes to identifying them and contacting their loved ones," he told reporters at a news conference Sunday afternoon.
Emergency crews respond to a fatal crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mount Pleasant Township early Sunday morning, Jan. 5, 2020. (WPIX TV via AP)
Limani said the Red Cross is assisting the victims of the crash, and "doing everything" to make it as comfortable as it can be to those impacted by the incident.
The crash caused all lanes to be closed in both directions on the highway between the Breezewood and New Stanton exits, roughly an 86-mile stretch of roadway.
Motorists traveling east are being urged to use Route 119 south US 40 east to Interstate 68 east (at Cumberland, Maryland) to Interstate 70 west and re-enter the turnpike at the Breezewood Interchange exit 161.
Westbound motorists are urged to use Route 30 west to Interstate 99 north to US Route 22 west to Route 66 south and re-enter the turnpike at exit 75 in at the New Stanton exit, according to KDKA-TV.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike can be seen empty after it was closed in both directions following a major crash early Sunday. (KDKA-TV via NNS)
It was not clear if the weather was a factor in the crash. The National Weather Service forecast for Westmoreland County early Sunday listed light unknown precipitation and an air temperature just below freezing.
"The one thing about traveling through Pennsylvania is that we have change in weather. It could be just because of our mountains, our hills. Just the way that our elevation changes," Limani told reporters. "We were told that by some of the people that were driving, that the weather did start to change."
Limani told reporters that weather conditions "could have played a factor" in the crash, but authorities will be able to "get to that answer" as the investigation progresses.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Operating Officer Craig Shuey told reporters at a news conference Sunday afternoon that work crews had been treating the roadway since 9 p.m. due to wintry conditions in the region. Shey added that road crews were cycling treatment using either salt or cinders during the time period before the crash took place.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched a board member and team of 13 people to the scene, according to Limani
One FedEx semi-truck was pictured among the trucks involved in the crash. In a statement to Fox News, a FedEx spokesperson said the company extends "our deepest condolences to the families of the individuals involved in this accident."
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"There is no higher priority for FedEx Ground than safety, and we are cooperating fully with investigating authorities at this time," the spokesperson added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
