On May 8, 2024, a rumor appearing in Facebook and Instagram ads from a Facebook page named Child-Rearing Chronicles — a page mostly managed from the Philippines — claimed a police officer conducting a traffic stop encountered an unusual situation. The ads read, "Officer Lets Mom Off The Hook Until Little Girl In Back Seat Blurts Out 2 Words."
The ads also said, "When he eventually stopped the car, a little girl in the back seat blurted out something that would make his blood run cold."
The ads directed users who clicked on them to a extremely lengthy article lasting 60 slides on the website theparentingspot.com, with the headline, "Officer Stops Speeding Car, Then the Little Girl in Back Seat Says 2 Words that Make Him Freeze."
However, this rumor — which circulated in the months prior in other Facebook posts — was fiction. The story lacked key identifying details including dates and locations, as well first or last names for most of the people described. Further, the story begins and ends with disclaimers printed in a very small font saying a writer created the tale for "entertainment" purposes. It's possible the creator of the story used an artificial-intelligence tool to write it.
The fictional story begins as follows:
Officer Brian Davidson found himself stationed on the side of a desolate highway, a quiet observer of the ebb and flow of vehicles passing by.
With a steaming cup of coffee in hand, he anticipated a routine day of enforcing traffic rules.
The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the empty road as Officer Davidson settled into the rhythm of his duties.
As the minutes ticked away, the tranquil scene was shattered by the roar of an approaching car.
The vehicle surged past him at an alarming speed, leaving Officer Davidson with no choice but to react.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he swiftly maneuvered his patrol car, lights flashing, to pursue the reckless driver and restore order to the highway.
Summarizing the rest of the story, police deploy a spike strip to stop the car. The officer named Brian Davidson walks to the car and sees a little girl in the back seat who jumps out of the vehicle and says two words: "Help me." The tale eventually reveals the mother "had lost custody of her daughter and was attempting to flee with her." A trial takes place and the jury acquits the mother of wrongdoing. Then, in a twist ending, a witness provides further information about the mother's past, leading to a reevaluation of the acquittal. The story ends with the little girl in the good care of her father and grandparents.
This story is an example of glurge — a term defined by Dictionary.com as "stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental."
Separate from this dramatized, fictional tale, true stories do exist of police officers pulling over vehicles where they find a parent driving who previously lost custody of a child who was sitting in their back seat. For example, in 2018, KFSN in Fresno reported one such case out of California with the headline, "CHP officers rescue 2-year-old after mom allegedly kidnaps her in Modesto."