Fact Check: US Navy SEALS did not find ‘15 missing Maui children’

The U.S. Navy SEALS did not rescue 15 missing children, who were allegedly imprisoned in padlocked cages, in Maui this September. The claim originates from an article published on a self-described satirical website.

Content from the article, which was published on Real Raw News on Sept. 17, 2023, was shared in Facebook posts.

“United States Navy SEALs on Thursday found 15 missing Maui children imprisoned in padlocked cages lined with piddle pads at a warehouse near Pier 51 in Honolulu Harbor, but repatriating them with their families has proven problematic, a source in General Eric M. Smith’s office told Real Raw News,” the article reads.

It includes an image of a child holding onto bars, which is a stock photo.

The “About” section of the Real Raw News site has a disclaimer that content on the website “contains humor, parody, and satire”.

Representatives for the U.S. Marine Corps, where General Smith currently serves, did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

Reuters did not find credible reports of a rescue mission as described in the article. The website of the U.S. Navy does not include any press releases about the alleged incident.

Child sacrifice and child trafficking are a common narrative among believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, who think a global cabal of elites are secretly harvesting children’s blood.

VERDICT

False. Claims U.S. Navy SEALS rescued 15 missing children in Maui stem from a satire website.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.         

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.