Pranksters plant ‘zombie’ corpses under ice to trick terrified locals into thinking they found bodies where teen died last summer
Culprits are facing charges after posting stunt to Facebook where concerned member of the public spotted it and informed police
A PAIR of sick pranksters tricked their friends into thinking they had found a body in a frozen lake where a teenager died last summer.
Two men face charges after posting pictures of fake body parts in a garden pond to Facebook and claiming to have found "a skeleton", saying "it is a foot from a human we have no idea what to do".
A concerned member of the public phoned police to report the picture of the head, feet and hands which the hoaxers claimed were found at East Fork Lake in Ohio, where a 16-year-old's body was found in July.
But they were actually zombie decorations frozen in a garden pond in the town of Sycamore - and despite friends' worried comments the duo kept the prank going for two hours before revealing it was all fake.
One concerned user said: "WTF? You should show the ranger. It could be someone’s loved one they are looking for."
Another added "What the hell is that?"
Whilst someone else posted: "Is this legit? That is crazy."
One friend said: "I’d definitely contact the local authorities."
Householder Jasen Dixen told Fox News: "We had a little zombie figure and threw him in the pond and we thought we needed to take a picture of it and post it on my buddy (Dustin Smith’s) Facebook page.
"He pretended he was camping at East Fork and ran across a body frozen in the ice.
"We messed with people and everyone was falling for it.
“We kept the joke going for about two hours".
Half-an-hour after Dustin admitted the post was a joke he was called by the Department of Natural Resources and could now face charges.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources confirmed the case is under investigation.
A spokesman said law enforcement is “working with the local prosecutor on potential charges” and “at this time, the case remains under investigation”.
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