Tag Archives: dementia

A Facebook post claiming to be searching for a missing man who has dementia is a hoax. 

The post, which appeared in a buy-and-sell group for Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, says: “NOT YET FOUND!! #Scunthorpe Mr.Jones aged 81 drove out with a dog Rex and he still hasn’t returned. He doesn’t know where he’s going, he has dementia. There is a silver alert activated on him. Please help bump this post so we can get him home safely.”

Full Fact has written before about a similar hoax post using the same photo, which has been traced back to the US and does not show a man called Mr Jones. 

There are many signs that this post is not genuine. Firstly, Full Fact traced the photo showing a man holding a dog to a community Facebook group in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the original…

Posts on Facebook are appealing for people to identify a woman they claim has dementia and is lost. But these appeals are a hoax, and follow the same pattern as other hoaxes we have checked before.

The posts claim that the woman and her dog have arrived at a shelter but that she “doesn’t know where she is”.

The posts have been shared in community Facebook groups across the world, and begin with: “URGENT ALERT! FLOOD YOUR FEEDS! does anyone recognise this lady?” 

They end with: “Please help us find her home”.

The posts all use identical wording, with different locations, and have the same photo of an elderly woman. The appeals have appeared on community groups across the country, including Maidenhead in Berkshire, Rugeley in Staffordshire and Crewe in…