DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Daytona Beach Police Department is dispelling rumors of a serial killer that is making the rounds on social media.
The department posted Wednesday on Facebook that a social media post claims there is a serial killer in the area.
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"The post includes a photo and some alarming claims, but we want to set the record straight: this information is completely false," the post reads.
The image used in the post is of a man who died in prison in 2022 and "has no connection to anything happening now in our area," police said.
Elsewhere in Florida, the Pembroke Pines Police Department also alerted its residents of a social media post referring to a serial killer in Pembroke Pines. The post uses the same claims and image of the man but has a different location.
Daytona Beach police in the past have arrested serial killers, but authorities said there’s currently no reason for concern.
Most recently, a woman killed in 1980 was identified in October 2024 as a victim of Daytona Beach-area serial killer Gerald Stano.
After a plea agreement, Stano was found guilty of nine other murders, although he confessed to killing 41 women in three states. He was executed by the state of Florida in 1998.
And nearly three years ago, serial killer Robert Hayes was found guilty of killing three women in Daytona Beach in 2005 and 2006.
Authorities said DNA evidence from crime scenes that was run through genealogy sites eventually linked Hayes, who was a student at Bethune-Cookman University at the time of the slayings, to the deaths of the three women. Police said the women were fatally shot when they got into a car with a stranger and their bodies were dumped in a secluded area.
The DBPD said if residents have any questions or concerns, they can reach out directly to the department to confirm information they may see on social media.
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