Missouri Goons Chase Fake Baboon

Baboon on the loose? Girl starts false frenzy
AP

FLORISSANT, Mo. — Police in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant spent a big part of the day looking for a baboon on the loose. A grade school went into lockdown. A woman scattered potato chips on the ground and made monkey sounds to try and lure the primate. But in the end, a 14-year-old girl admitted it was all a hoax after the picture she claimed to have snapped proved to be one she actually found on the Internet.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the girl set off the frenzy Thursday by claiming she took a picture of the primate in her backyard. It was hours later that she told police she actually found the picture on the Internet and took a photo of it with her cell phone.

Police Chief William Karabas said the girl was sorry but she did not offer any explanation for the stunt.

"She was remorseful," Karabas said. "But the total emotional aspect of all this and the why is: who knows?"

The case will be referred to St. Louis County Family Court for review.

The girl's mother went to city officials and news media with the photo, prompting the search. It was after an identical photo was found in an Internet search that the story began to unravel.

Before that, schools took precautions, including keeping children in during recess. Chaos led to rumors. One woman in the neighborhood being searched said she owned a monkey. She made baboon-like noises and scattered Lays potato chips and Cheetos to try and lure the animal. Yet another woman who claimed to own a monkey walked around with a net.

If you ask me this girl deserves a medal for what she did instead of any punishment because she single handedly exposed the people in her community as idiots and exposed the police force as entirely inept. I'm pretty sure any halfway intelligent police officer would have gone into this being a little more skeptical and discerning. I think he could have given the photo to an IT guy and asked him if it was fake. Instead this Police Chief might as well have called in the national guard. Sure, the people in this town may not ever trust the girl again (ala the boy who cried wolf) but what are the chances an actual monkey does get loose in the community and she's the first to see it?