Homeless Couple, Meth Lab Found in Walmart Attic-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
It’s been reported that a homeless couple was found living in a Walmart attic with a meth lab, hot plate and flat screen television.
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind reports that a homeless couple was found living in a Walmart attic.
The fake news website, Now 8 News, reported on December 1, 2015, that a homeless couple was found “living in the lap of luxury” in the attic of Walmart store in Memphis, Tennessee:
Memphis, Tennessee – Being homeless has to be very difficult, especially in the colder times of the year. But not for this Tennessee couple who had been “living in the lap of luxury” above a Tennessee Walmart store. The ‘homeless’ man, 48-year-old Wilbert Thomas, admitted to police that he and his girlfriend 54-year-old Ingrid Malone, had been living above the store for over two years. What they did to the attic, baffled police
Within days, the fake news story had been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media networks. Taken out of context, many people who stumbled onto the story on social media sites were duped into believing it was real, but that’s not the case.
Now 8 News is one of many fake news sites that is designed to look like local television news stations. The website doesn’t clearly identify itself as a fake or satirical news website, so readers often mistake its fictional reports for actual news.
Still, the idea of a person found to be living in a retail store isn’t very far fetched. In 2014, a teenager was found living in a Walmart store in Dallas. The teen made two secret campsites in the store and periodically changed his clothes to avoid being noticed. Store employees eventually noticed a “trail of trash” left by the teen, and he was taken “licensed professionals for follow up care,” CBS News reports.