Viral post about lost child in Elko County, Nevada, is not real

The image of an injured child is gaining popularity on social media thanks to a Facebook post urging people to “flood our feeds so this post reaches his family.”

“This little boy, about three years old, was found last night running around behind a house here in Elko County,” said the misspelled Sept. 2 post shared in a Facebook group called “Jobs in Elko County, Nevada.” “Deputy Ryan Braidley rescued him and brought him to the police station, but no one has any idea where he lives, neighbors don't know him or how he got there. He says his mother's name is Emily.”

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The Elko County Sheriff's Office confirmed to PolitiFact that Ryan Braidley does not work there. “Deputy” is not a typical title at police departments like Elko's, but Ryan Braidley does not work there, either.

This is because this claim is not authentic; the story of an alleged lost child has been widely shared in various communities around the world.

A search for “Ryan Braidley” on Facebook on September 4th found identical posts, except for the alleged location where the child was found, including: Basildon, England, Boise, Idaho and San Joaquin, California.

When USA Today investigated a similar claim in 2023 about another child who was allegedly found walking in several cities, Jeffrey Blevins, a disinformation expert and professor at the University of Cincinnati, told the newspaper that such posts could be what he called “a kind of credulity test.”

“They'll probably get back to you later and see what you want to reveal, or they'll try to have a personal conversation with you and get you to accept a friend request or something like that,” Blevins said, adding that they could target people for future scams.

We believe the claim that this photograph shows a child found by Deputy Ryan Braidley in Elko County, Nevada, is false.