Photo: Facebook / Donni Newbill Mills
The modern boogeyman isn’t something out of horror movies, except for the fact that he drives a white van, which may or may not have an extra set of locks on the outside. We can all thank fake news on Facebook for that.
For the past couple of years, there have been countless unconfirmed reports on sightings of “suspicious” white vans across the U.S., many of which ended up attaining viral status after being posted to Facebook or Instagram. To this day, a simple search on either platform will yield scary results: if you live or happen to be traveling in the good ol’ U.S. of A., be wary of white vans parked next to your car, in the mall parking lot or on a side street close to your home.
White vans are being used to kidnap girls and women, and sell them to trafficking rings or for body parts. Some vans have double locks on the outside, so once you get in, there’s no way out for you. Or they have no handle at all. Others carry unknown criminals that lurk in parking lots and dark alleys, ready to jump at you and grab you when you least expect it.
The idea is terrifying, no doubt about it, but there is as much truth to it as there is to Donald Trump’s claim that Mexican traffickers are using high-performance vehicles to take kidnapped women out of the country. Put it differently, there is no truth to the story.
White vans have become the modern boogeyman because people would rather post about stuff on social media instead of calling the police, even in those cases when they have reason for concern. CNN has tracked down some of the posters behind viral Facebook posts on “suspicious” white vans, and they all say that their intention was to warn their friends and other people about the possibility of a kidnapper lurking around. You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
Even the Mayor of Baltimore has come to believe that Facebook reports and viral posts hold at least a grain of truth, recently warning his constituents that they should never come near a white van. “Don't park near a white van,” Bernard Young said in an interview, a video for which is also available below. “Make sure you keep your cellphone in case somebody tries to abduct you.”
Asked if he knew of actual incident reports involving a white van, he said it was “all over Facebook.” Apparently, that’s enough to issue a more or less official warning, further spreading panic. After all, when a mayor goes on the record with something, it must mean he’s not talking out of his backside but has actual information confirming a fact.
Baltimore police tell CNN that they never got an incident report with a white van, as neither did any other PD in the country, in cities where suspicious presence of such vehicles has been reported.
The problem with turning white vans into a boogeyman, other than the fact that there is no basis for it, is that it spreads panic, while doing an obvious disservice to this type of vehicle. Drivers of white vans say they’ve been harassed and even threatened on the job, because someone assumed they were up to no good, based on what they’d read online.
It also distracts from real human trafficking issues, Baltimore City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, co-chair of the Baltimore City Human Trafficking Collaborative, says.
“We need to make sure accurate information is out there especially because Baltimore is a hotbed of human trafficking in the country,” Burnett explains. “I think is sort of telling [that these rumors are spread on Facebook] given the national conversation around Facebook's ability and inability to control the spread of inaccurate information on their platform.”
White vans or vans in general (of a more nondescript nature, of course) are often the vehicle of choice of a movie villains, especially in cheap thrillers and revenge horrors. A van offers the means of transport and the place they can effectively carry out a crime, so it’s a sensible, practical choice more than anything.
While it makes sense for villains to use vans to do their dirty work on the big or small screen, some discretion is needed when it comes to online reports. Never believe everything that you read on social media, especially if it’s not confirmed by the authorities. Don’t lend an ear to gossip and rumors, and don’t let the white vans of the world take the fall for nothing.
White vans are being used to kidnap girls and women, and sell them to trafficking rings or for body parts. Some vans have double locks on the outside, so once you get in, there’s no way out for you. Or they have no handle at all. Others carry unknown criminals that lurk in parking lots and dark alleys, ready to jump at you and grab you when you least expect it.
The idea is terrifying, no doubt about it, but there is as much truth to it as there is to Donald Trump’s claim that Mexican traffickers are using high-performance vehicles to take kidnapped women out of the country. Put it differently, there is no truth to the story.
White vans have become the modern boogeyman because people would rather post about stuff on social media instead of calling the police, even in those cases when they have reason for concern. CNN has tracked down some of the posters behind viral Facebook posts on “suspicious” white vans, and they all say that their intention was to warn their friends and other people about the possibility of a kidnapper lurking around. You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.
Even the Mayor of Baltimore has come to believe that Facebook reports and viral posts hold at least a grain of truth, recently warning his constituents that they should never come near a white van. “Don't park near a white van,” Bernard Young said in an interview, a video for which is also available below. “Make sure you keep your cellphone in case somebody tries to abduct you.”
Asked if he knew of actual incident reports involving a white van, he said it was “all over Facebook.” Apparently, that’s enough to issue a more or less official warning, further spreading panic. After all, when a mayor goes on the record with something, it must mean he’s not talking out of his backside but has actual information confirming a fact.
Baltimore police tell CNN that they never got an incident report with a white van, as neither did any other PD in the country, in cities where suspicious presence of such vehicles has been reported.
The problem with turning white vans into a boogeyman, other than the fact that there is no basis for it, is that it spreads panic, while doing an obvious disservice to this type of vehicle. Drivers of white vans say they’ve been harassed and even threatened on the job, because someone assumed they were up to no good, based on what they’d read online.
It also distracts from real human trafficking issues, Baltimore City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, co-chair of the Baltimore City Human Trafficking Collaborative, says.
“We need to make sure accurate information is out there especially because Baltimore is a hotbed of human trafficking in the country,” Burnett explains. “I think is sort of telling [that these rumors are spread on Facebook] given the national conversation around Facebook's ability and inability to control the spread of inaccurate information on their platform.”
White vans or vans in general (of a more nondescript nature, of course) are often the vehicle of choice of a movie villains, especially in cheap thrillers and revenge horrors. A van offers the means of transport and the place they can effectively carry out a crime, so it’s a sensible, practical choice more than anything.
While it makes sense for villains to use vans to do their dirty work on the big or small screen, some discretion is needed when it comes to online reports. Never believe everything that you read on social media, especially if it’s not confirmed by the authorities. Don’t lend an ear to gossip and rumors, and don’t let the white vans of the world take the fall for nothing.
.@mayorbcyoung says, “we’re getting reports of somebody in a white van trying to snatch up young girls for human trafficking and for selling body parts.
— Vanessa Herring (@VanessaWBAL) December 3, 2019
Adding, “it’s all over Facebook” & “that’s something that our police officers are aware of because its been reported.” #WBAL pic.twitter.com/k1y1o96z7T
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