Last week, KFC was doing a lot of apologizing after the family of a little girl with facial scars claimed their daughter had been told to leave a KFC eatery in Mississippi because she was making other customers uncomfortable. A new report now says that no such incident occurred but the girl’s family is sticking by their original account of how things happened.

A report in the Laurel, MS, Leader-Call dubs the story a “Kentucky Fried Hoax,” citing anonymous sources who claim that the little girl — who is recovering from a vicious dog attack — can not be found on in-store video footage from the day on which the incident allegedly occurred. The sources also say there is no record of any order being placed that matches what the girl’s grandmother claimed to have ordered at the KFC during their visit.

Workers at KFC also tell the paper that they have never and would never ask someone to leave because of some scars and bandages on their face; not just because it’s rude, but because the store is located near the hospital and gets a lot of traffic from customers coming and going from treatment.

“We’ve had people come in who were shot in the face,” one source is quoted as saying. “We’ve had them with tubes and wire sticking out. We never have asked anyone to leave. There is a physically challenged person working in the Woodrow Wilson location and one of the other [KFC] managers has a child with Tourette’s Syndrome.”

In addition to the $30,000 that KFC has pledged to help with the young girl’s medical bills, the outpouring of public sympathy has resulted in more than $100,000 in donations and gifts.

Late last night, the Facebook page set up for the young girl’s cause posted an update denying the claims made in the Leader-Call story:

I promise its not a hoax, I never thought any of this would blow up the way it has. The article circling the web calling this a hoax is untrue. The article it self say the investigation is not complete. It is not over until KFC releases a statement. The media outlet running this story is not connected with KFC. The family has not asked for anything, a attorney is handling all the media publicity for the family pro bono. Please do not believe untrue media. I have personally watched this family go without to provide for Victoria. They have not and would not do anything to hurt Victoria in any way.

KFC is not commenting on the Leader-Call story, other than to say that its investigation is still pending. The family’s attorney says they have not decided whether they will accept the restaurant chain’s $30,000 offer.

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