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Instagram posts

stated on December 17, 2024 in a photo:

“A Coca-Cola truck filled with kids was found by police in Cicero, Illinois.”

By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu December 18, 2024

Photos don’t show Coca-Cola truck with rescued children. It’s a Christmas toy drive

If Your Time is short

Claims of children found in a Coca-Cola truck in Cicero, Illinois, are false, the town’s spokesperson told PolitiFact.
Photos of a Coca-Cola truck next to a police vehicle are from Davenport, Iowa, where officers hosted the 22nd annual toy drive for children who live in a shelter.

See the sources for this fact-check

Social media posts claiming to show police discovering a Coca-Cola truck full of children are a ho ho hoax.

"A Coca-Cola truck filled with kids was found by police in Cicero, Illinois," text on a Dec. 17 Instagram post said. It continued, "The kids were all rescued, praise God! God we pray that every kid in sex trafficking would be found and rescued in Jesus’ name. Amen!" The post features a photo of a Coca-Cola 18-wheel truck and a police SUV next to it.

We found similar claims on X and Facebook. "Omggg they just found a Coca Cola truck filled with kids on it," a Dec. 15 post featuring the same image said.

The Instagram and Facebook posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads and Instagram.)

But these claims don’t depict rescued children, and the location is not in Illinois. The photo is of a Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 police toy drive in Davenport, Iowa, organized by the Davenport Police Association.

Threads posts

stated on November 19, 2024 in a Threads post

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hospitalized with “serious health issue.”

"It was a toy drive over the weekend collecting toys for a partner here called Family Resources to support kids who are in a domestic shelter," Davenport Police Department spokesperson Owen Farrell told PolitiFact. There was "no criminal investigation at that location or involving a Coke truck," Farrell said.

Photos of the toy drive, which is in its 22nd year, were published on the Davenport Police Association and police department’s Facebook accounts. One of the photos shows a police vehicle next to a Coca-Cola truck and a yard sign with the words: "Toy Drive Today." Another sign promises donors "complimentary Coca-Cola." Other photos show officers carrying boxes and a hall full of toys. The photos do not show children.

Iowa television stations WHBF and KWQC reported about the toy drive that was held at the NorthPark Mall. WHBF interviewed Davenport Police Sergeant Kris Mayer about the toy drive next to the Coca-Cola truck and the police vehicle. The report features one child giving a Coke bottle to a donor and another child inside the Coca-Cola truck arranging donated toys.

Town officials in Cicero, Illinois, also said there is no record of rescued children in the area.

"Cicero police have not found any children in a truck and the reports that that has taken place are misinformation," said Ray Hanania, spokesperson for Cicero town and police department.

We rate the claim that "a Coca-Cola truck filled with kids was found by police in Cicero, Illinois," False.