By Tim Binnall
Wildlife officials in Indiana were forced to issue a statement assuring residents that a viral story of a man-eating turtle lurking in one of the state's lakes was, in fact, merely a tall tale put forward by a clever individual online. According to a local media report, the strange case started this past Sunday with a vivid Facebook post wherein it was claimed that "forensic scientists at Purdue University" had determined that "decapitated human remains discovered in Lake Monroe" were "the result of a gruesome attack by a giant snapping turtle." The rather well-crafted account, which even included quotes from a purported forensic biologist dubbed Dr. Eric Paddlejack, quickly spread like wildfire online until state wildlife officials stepped in to squash the story.
In their own Facebook post on Wednesday, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife informed the public that the worrisome story, which by then had been shared a staggering 16,000 times, was "completely false." Using the online prank as something of a teachable moment, the department mused that the tall tale should serve as a testament to "importance of checking sources when reading something shocking or out of ordinary." Should any Indiana residents be disappointed to learn that there is no monster lurking in Lake Monroe, they can take some solace in knowing that the state's legendary Beast of Busco snapping turtle, which may have inspired this past weekend's fictional account, has still yet to be debunked.