JACKSON, Miss. – If you have been paying attention to Mississippi news over the past couple weeks, chances are you have heard the story about Jackson KFC employees asking 3-year-old Victoria Wilcher and her grandmother, Kelly Mullins, to leave because Wilcher’s facial scars that she received from a pit bull attack were scaring customers. A report by the Laurel Leader-Call is now saying the story is a hoax. According to the paper, they spoke with a source with direct ties to the investigation, but could speak under conditions of strict anonymity, since they were not permitted to speak on the record.
The source claimed that surveillance footage at the Jackson KFC locations showed that at no time on May 15th was there anyone that matched the description of Wilcher or Mullins. The source also claimed that at no time on that day were there any orders that matched what Mullins told reporters that she ordered.
Also, the family initially told KFC that the incident happened at the location on State and High streets, a location that has not been in operation for several years. The claim was also backed by Facebook post on the page “Victoria’s Victories,” which is ran by Wilcher’s aunt. The post was later corrected.
Since the story went viral, more than $135,000 has been raised on gofundme.com for Wilcher. A doctor from Las Vegas has even stepped up offering free plastic surgery.
According to the Laurel Leader-Call, Dick West, who is the owner of the Jackson KFCs, wrote on the Facebook page of a Jackson television station “When the allegation was first made, KFC pledged $30,000 to go to medical expenses and started an investigation to find the truth. They have pledged the money even if it is proven that the incident never happened. At this point their story is full of holes. Any thinking person who follows their timeline can see it. The event at KFC never happened.”
