A viral Oct. 4 Facebook post describes a grisly discovery that was purportedly made in the western Montana city of Missoula.
"Another dead body was found in a cardboard box by the California Street bridge down by the river here in Missoula Montana and this happened to be another young girl which makes five girls and two guys that have been found dead along the Clark fork River between Madison Street bridge and Russell Street bridge (sic)," reads part of the post.
The user goes on to claim the deaths are the work of a serial killer, as all the victims were stabbed to death "in a similar fashion."
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The post was shared more than 1,000 times in two days.
But local law enforcement said the claim is baseless, and that no recent murders have been reported in the area mentioned in the Facebook post.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment.
Lydia Arnold, a spokesperson for the Missoula Police Department, said the information in the Facebook post is false and has caused “unnecessary concern in our community.”
Arnold added there have been no recent murders reported in the area of the city mentioned in the post.
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