PolitiFact – No evidence of a serial killer in Cincinnati, police say

After a woman’s dismembered body was discovered Nov. 5 in a Cincinnati neighborhood, social media users have spread rumors that more bodies were found and that a serial killer may be on the loose.

“Females please be safe and keep something on you and walk in groups,” a person warned in a Nov 9 Facebook post. “There is a serial killer in Cincinnati.”

The post claimed that seven women’s bodies have been found “chopped up” and urged followers to share the post to get the word out.

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 and Instagram.)

The body of one unidentified victim, a Black woman in her late 20s or early 30s, was found in a wooded area in the city’s North Fairmount neighborhood. Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco said in a Nov. 7 news conference that she ruled the death a homicide.

But no other dismembered bodies have been found. Sammarco, who couldn’t be reached because of the Veterans Day holiday, told The Cincinnati Enquirer in a Nov 9 article that her office had not received calls about any other dismembered bodies being discovered.

Cincinnati Police Department spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Cunningham said he has been receiving calls asking whether more bodies had been found. 

“This is completely false,” he told PolitiFact in a Nov. 10 email. “There is only one dismembered body found, which was located on Sunday, Nov. 5.”

The investigation into that case continues.

The Facebook claim that a serial killer has dismembered seven women in Cincinnati is False.