Casey Anthony Death Hoax Goes Viral

Casey Anthony has not died despite reports that she was “bludgeoned” to death. The initial report came from a site called News 8 Now, which is set up to look like a legitimate local news site. The site claimed that Anthony was killed in Ohio and even posted a blurred out photo of a body that was meant to belong to the 29 year old.

According to Snopes, the reported death of Anthony was a hoax. The site claims that another site, believed to be the former News 8 Now, published a very similar story back in 2015.

“Unconfirmed reports coming out of Warren, Ohio state that the body of Casey Anthony was found in a rest stop near I-71, bludgeoned to death. At 1:37 p.m. on Monday, a traveler noticed a body in the back of a pickup truck abandoned in a grassy field about 20 yards from the parking area as he was walking his dog,” read the story in part.

“The man said as he approached the vehicle, there was a horrible stench in the air. He was shocked to find a young female, in her late 20’s to early 30’s, partially dismembered. The man immediately called 911. Police arrived and quickly closed off a section of I-71 and the nearby rest stop as they further investigated the scene. The man who stumbled across the body, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that the woman in the back of the truck had a severed arm, multiple stab wounds to the stomach, and her skull was partially caved in at the top. Her mouth was duct taped shut, with a heart-shaped sticker adhered to the outside of the duct tape. Reports say her face was covered in maggots, and eyewitnesses say it was “something they will never forget,” read the rest of the report.

Those who were unaware that News 8 Now (and the previous Breaking News 13) wasn’t a “real” news site may have been easily fooled by the report, as it sounds quite believable. It appears as though the June 26 death claims have been deleted by News 8 Now.

In 2011, Anthony was acquitted on charges of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Since she was first identified as a suspect, her name has been in and out of the news. Whenever her name appears in a headline, however, it gets a lot of attention. The murder case surrounding Anthony’s daughter was very controversial and is still talked about today.

In March 2017, USA Today reported that Anthony was living in West Palm Beach, Florida. In February, she was spotted at an anti-Trump protest.