Did a series of Facebook posts in late March and early April 2025 offer genuine concern over Katie Cunningham, a police officer supposedly missing from various locations in the United States? No, that's not true: Such posts were examples of a known "bait-and-switch" scam, which garnered well-meaning shares of the original post before flipping its content to boost dubious real estate and marketing promotions. As of March 28, 2025, Sergeant Kate Cunningham worked for Great Falls Police Department in Montana, and was alive and well.
The scam proceeded in two stages. First, the creator posted a message purporting to be from a member of the community, requesting help in tracing Cunningham's whereabouts. It contained the following text, as shown in this March 28, 2025 post (archived here):
FEMALE POLICE OFFICER MISSING in 📍Darke county
Be on the look out,the police need help in locating Female Officer KATIE CUNNINGHAM (28) who went missing yesterday morning.
Her car was found last night with her daughter inside but unfortunately, there is still no sign of her. She is 5'9" and 163 lbs.
A silver alert has been issued for Katie who is considered to possibly be in EXTREME danger and in need of medical assistance . We are asking for the community's help.
IT ONLY TAKES 2 SECONDS to share...
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot)
The location specified in each post varied. For example, a March 28, 2025, version (archived here) of the scam changed the supposed location to Bastrop, Texas, as follows:
(Source: Facebook screenshot)
After garnering many shares among well-meaning Facebook users, the creator then moved to the second stage of the scam, which was to convert the content of the post to one of various dubious promotions, often involving real estate offers.
For example, a March 28, 2025, post (archived here) targeting users in Hobart, Indiana began as a "Katie Cunningham" missing persons warning:
However, after garnering shares and engagement, its creator then updated its content, completely replacing the message about Katie Cunningham with a real estate promotion, as shown below:
(Source: Facebook screenshot)
And this is what the post looked like once the content switch was complete:
(Source: Facebook screenshot)
Kate Cunningham is a real police sergeant in Great Falls, Montana. The photo used in the scam posts appears to have been taken from a 2015 Facebook post announcing her as the department's first ever female firearms instructor:
In a March 28, 2025, Facebook post, Great Falls Police Department confirmed that Cunningham, now a sergeant, was "alive and well."
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