That rumor about a “celebrity” involvement in the Pressly case? It’s everywhere, from last Friday’s Razorback game to every Internet chat group in town, apparently. One blog reader claims it was repeated on radio. That doesn’t mean it’s true. Police and the prosecutor have told me today, within the last few minutes — directly, categorically and emphatically — it’s a fiction. There is one suspect in the slaying. He’s in jail.
UPDATE: Early comments reflect the futility of attempting to dispel rumors. People prefer to believe salacious gossip every time. But let me try one last time: Authorities categorically reject any permuation of ALL rumors that implicate anyone but Curtis Vance — Richard Nixon, Joe T. Robinson, Lucille Ball, the Pope, anybody you can name — in the slaying of Anne Pressly. How does stuff like this get started without some basis? Easy. Happens all the time, either by malice or misguided humor that goes viral.
UPDATE II: Just because this rumor has been reported on at least one local radio station — and according to a representative of the person being libeled, a Dallas TV station — doesn’t mean it should be given free rein. Since official denials of the story haven’t slowed the uninformed commentary, I’m going to have to step in. No more.