Viral post about a lost child in Elko County, Nevada, isn’t real

An image of an injured child is gaining traction on social media thanks to a Facebook post that urges people to "flood our feeds so that this post may reach his family."

"This little boy approximately 3 years old was found last night walking behind a home here in elkocounty," said the misspelled Sept. 2 post shared in a Facebook group called "Jobs in Elko County, Nevada." "Deputy Ryan Braidley saved him and took him to the Police Station but no one has an idea where he lives, the neighbours don't know him or how he got there. He says his mom's name is Emily."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The Elko County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to PolitiFact that no Ryan Braidley works there. "Deputy" isn’t typically a title at police departments such as Elko’s, but no Ryan Braidley works there, either.

That’s because this claim isn’t authentic; this story about a purported lost child has been shared widely in different communities around the world. 

Searching for "Ryan Braidley" on Sept. 4 on Facebook revealed identical posts except for the location where the child was supposedly found. Among them: Basildon, England, Boise, Idaho, and San Joaquin, California.

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When USA Today fact-checked a similar claim in 2023 about a different child supposedly found walking in several cities, Jeffrey Blevins, a misinformation expert and professor at the University of Cincinnati, told the newspaper that such posts can be what he called "a gullibility check."

"They’re likely to circle back to you later and see what you’re willing to share, or they might try to engage you one on one, get you to accept a friend request, that kind of thing," Blevins said, adding that they can target people for future scams.

We rate claims this photo shows a child found in Elko County, Nevada, by Deputy Ryan Braidley False.