【Dear Utol (2025): Catfish Episode 46】

Don't believe everything you see.

Today in fake happenings,Dear Utol (2025): Catfish Episode 46 ABC News casually staged a crime scene by attempting to beef up its live shots with some police tape.

Is nothing sacred anymore?

Earlier Friday, ABC correspondent Linsey Davis reported an alleged crime from a field in Woodruff, South Carolina. According to CNNMoney, Davis described in horrifying detail the alleged experience of a 30-year-old woman who had been held captive in a storage container by a registered sex offender.

But a photograph obtained by CNNMoney from an anonymous source revealed something fishy. The typical mark of a crime scene -- yellow police tape with the words "SHERIFF'S LINE DO NOT CROSS" -- was tied to ABC News equipment to serve as a dramatic backdrop.

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According to CNNMoney, "sources with knowledge of the matter say the tape was placed there by ABC News" solely for the purpose of the live shot. The clip also aired on Good Morning America.

Julie Townsend, vice president of communications at ABC News, denounced the trick.

"This action is completely unacceptable and fails to meet the standards of ABC News," she told CNNMoney. "As soon as it was brought to our attention, we decided to take the producer out of the field, and we're investigating further."

This isn't the first time ABC News has presented false information.

Back in April, ABC News producer David Fazekas created a fake reservation list (using a name generator on the internet) for a very exclusive restaurant in upstate New York.

In his defense, Fazekas told The New Yorkerthat the restaurant's chef "wouldn't let us see his actual list, so I wrote it myself— like a reenactment in a documentary."

Ah, what a time to be alive.