The Kelsey Brooke Jones Missing Child Email Warning Is Hooey

Last significant update: 06 March, 2001

This information can be freely reproduced in any medium, as long as the information is unmodified.

Here's a prime example of the misuse of email, whether or not it's for a good cause:

A writer asks:

Do you know anything about the following two items I've received recently: Missing child named Kelsey Brooke Jones in Minnesota?

Here is the text:

I have a 5 year old daughter named Kelsey Brooke Jones.
We are from Southern Minnesota. She has been missing
since 4pm Oct.11, 1999. The police were notified shortly
after.  If anyone anywhere knows anything, sees anything,
pleeeeaaaase contact me if you have my number.
The police don't recommend I put my number online,
but you can contact the Police.  A missing persons report has been
filed.  I am including a picture of her. 

All prayers are appreciated!!

According to the Snopes folks (leaving our site), it's bogus now, but was perhaps true for a moment.

So in short, while this was true... but they found her 2 HOURS after she was lost. Unfortunately, the mother apparently sent out email to ask for help finding her, but neglected to send out another message that she had been found. :-( Now it has been clogging up the Internet for lo these many months....

This is yet another example of the fact that "email petitions" aren't the way to do it. Appropriate ways would be to leave it to the authorities, or to put up a web site.

A good general rule for "missing children" reports is to check the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (leaving our site); if you don't find it there, it is very unlikely to be true: Either it is a hoax, or the case was resolved so quickly that it never made it to the Right Places.

In any event, this should NOT be spread as a current case for concern.

Please do not forward this -- or any other misinformation -- to all your friends.

Instead, you should reply to the sender -- and as far back up the email chain as you have energy -- informing the originators that this is not true. For this particular hooey, I suggest that you provide a pointer to this URL (http://www.umich.edu/~virus-busters/hoaxes/kelsey.html)
For virus or hoax info, please see our main page (http://www.umich.edu/~virus-busters/) or go to another reputable site, like The Urban Legends Reference Pages (leaving our site).

   -BPB

visits to this page since 06 March 2001 21:14 EST