Do posts about the missing hiker "Sara Jenkins" on social media tell the true story of the discovery of that person's remains? No, that's not true: No credible media organizations reported that. Lead Stories found no court records confirming any part of the story circulating on social media platforms.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on August 29, 2025. It opened:
The missing hiker who became a scarecrowSara Jenkins, 24, originally from Columbus, Ohio, had a travel blog called Sara Sees the World. Freshly graduated from journalism, she decided to fulfill a dream she had been obsessed with since childhood: to walk alone a part of the legendary Appalachian Trail.She wasn't a professional hiker, but she had prepared with dedication. Months of Study, Travelers' Reports, Specialized Team... Everything seemed under control. And during the first few weeks his trek was perfect: mountains, thick forests and encounters with other hikers. Her blog grew, and each post conveyed the excitement of someone who was living the adventure of a lifetime.Until suddenly the silence came. There were no more pics. There were no more messages. No one heard from her again. The official search went on for weeks, but it dropped no clues. Only his father refused to abandon, walking the path for two long years, clinging to hope.That was when, in Virginia, while talking to a farmer, something caught his eye in the middle of a cornfield: a strange scarecrow, motionless in the sun. As we got closer, the air became heavy... because he wasn't a scarecrow. He was a human skeleton, with strands of dark hair and a hat identical to Sara wearing on the day she disappeared.The body was tied to a wooden cross, mixed with rotten straw, as if someone wanted to expose it in plain sight. Forensic analysis confirmed the unthinkable: it was Sara Jenkins' remains.The most disturbing thing is that the person responsible was never found. The farmer was questioned, but never charged. Nobody knows who put her there or why...And then comes the blood-chilling question:It's a real fact hidden in America's darkest trails... or just a story designed to terrorize?You have the final word
This is what the image attached to the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at facebook.com/groups/988897155023132)
Searches on Google News (archived here) and Yahoo News (archived here) did not yield any recent credible media reporting confirming any part of the scarecrow story that went viral on social media in September 2025.
A longer version of the tale (archived here) offered more details but contradicted the post on Facebook in key aspects. It placed the supposed disappearance of Sara Jenkins in June 2005 and claimed that her remains were discovered in 2007. The article provided the name of the farmer: "Silas Blackwood". In that version of the story, not only was he charged but also "found guilty on all counts, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, and rape" and "sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole".
Yet, Google Scholar's case law showed no lawsuits involving a person named "Silas Blackwood" (archived here). Court records on PACER didn't show a criminal case associated with the purported defendant:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of PACER)
The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate lookup tool didn't show any matches, either:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of bop.gov)
Contrary to the claim from the longer version of the tale that "Sarah Jenkins's story made national news for a time", a search across nearly 50 national and international newspapers via ProQuest showed no media reports:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of ProQuest)
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of ProQuest)
Lead Stories additionally searched for obituaries mentioning "Sara Jenkins" from Ohio, who was born around 1981 and died in 2005, but found no matching records.
