A 3-year-old girl disfigured after a dog mauled her has been getting a lot of attention, sympathy, and donations after her family said she was asked to leave a KFC in Jackson, Miss., because her appearance was scaring the other customers. But the whole story looks to be bogus, according to the Laurel Leader-Call, whose article is dramatically titled "KENTUCKY FRIED HOAX." Its evidence:
- Little Victoria Wilcher's grandmother, Kelly Mullins, claimed the incident took place on May 15, but sources "with deep knowledge of the investigation" say surveillance videos don't show anyone at either of two Jackson KFCs near the hospital Victoria visited that day matching the description of either Victoria or Mullins.
- In a Facebook post, the girl's aunt claimed the incident occurred at a third Jackson location ... but that store has actually been closed for several years.
- Her aunt then posted that the Woodrow Wilson location (one of the two near the hospital) was the correct one, and with a location like that, a source says "we’ve had people come in who were shot in the face. We've had them with tubes and wire sticking out. We never have asked anyone to leave."
- The sources also say "no orders were recorded to include mashed potatoes and sweet tea on the same transaction, or even the two items as part of a larger order on May 15," those being the two items Mullins claims to have ordered.
- Back on May 16, the Victoria's Victories Facebook page was pretty chipper in its post about the day prior, mentioning the "great people" at the Jackson children's hospital but not saying anything about the alleged KFC incident until June 12.
- And on Saturday, Victoria's aunt, who runs the Victoria's Victories Facebook page, posted this in response to another post: "I made a mistake, when I made this mistake her page was only 250 people mostly family and close friends. None of us thought that it would blow up to be what it is." However, a post on the page last night says, "I promise its not a hoax."
After the story went viral, Victoria's family was offered free reconstructive surgery and more than $135,000 was raised on
GoFundMe for the little girl, whose family had been publicly concerned about finances prior to the KFC incident. An outside consultant is currently investigating the story, a local franchisee tells
WJTV, but he adds that KFC will donate $30,000 to the family regardless of the findings. (More
Kentucky Fried Chicken stories.)
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