it's a case that's captured the hearts and minds of many in central arkansas - as people continue to ask: where's malik? ((bob)) good evening and thanks for choosing kark 4 news i'm bob clausen ((ashley)) and i'm ashley ketz while searcy detectives say they continue to work their investigation into the 2-year old's disappearance, kark 4's david goins joins us with more on why they're having to compete with social media. david david bob, ashley - the connectivity we see in social media, whether facebook or twitter has positive benefits in keeping up with emerging details - but as we're seeing in the search for malik drummond, fertile ground for spreading false leads and innuendo. the only visible sign of malik drummond in searcy right now, signs spread throughout the town of 20-thousand - a heart for malik - placed at busy intersections - and in front of the p-d, where detectives continue their work. but now an online distraction - searcy police taking to facebook to combat online claims about a break in the case. making it clear: "We have not found Malik.
We are still searching for him." searcy police say rampant and unfound rumors have no material effect on investigators continuing their work to try and locate the 2-year old. but the false on-line leads reveal the negative side of immediate online information distribution. searcy police say the same mediums were key in getting the word out about drummond's disappearance 17 days ago - that led to hundreds of volunteers fanning out and searching for the toddler. and police say social media played a key role in another high profile case earlier this year, the capture of kidnapping and murder suspect arron lewis - hours after police posted his photo across multiple online platforms, a citizen spotted him wandering in a strip-center - crediting his photo on facebook as the reason. david searcy police chief jeremy clark says he's acutely aware of the activity on social media - including misinformation on malik's disappearance - telling me it's part of dealing with a high profile investigation - but nothing that will deter detectives from the work at hand- find malik drummond. back to you. a