Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country," Vance posted on X on Monday, echoing an unsubstantiated rumor that took off on right-wing social media over the weekend.
Local police, however, tell the Springfield News-Sun that there are no reports of pets being stolen and eaten in the community.
The rumor, which reports suggest had been spreading locally for at least a month, was amplified by conservative influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers.
The News-Sun suggested that the original Facebook post conflated Springfield with Canton, Ohio, a city 175 miles northeast where a woman was recently arrested for allegedly killing and eating a cat.
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