Reports have surfaced of missing person flyers appearing around the city for a woman named "Courtney" and her child. But according to at least one individual who investigated the posters, the flyers aren't legitimate missing person notices at all. Instead, they may be the work of a stalker or abusive ex attempting to use public sympathy to track down someone who doesn't want to be found.

If true, it's a chilling tactic — weaponizing the community's good instincts against the very person who needs protection.

The situation has sparked real debate about what bystanders should actually do when they encounter these flyers. As one SF resident put it bluntly: "Maybe alert the police so they can contact this person putting up flyers. If they're real we should all be getting an Amber Alert message soon, right? If it's fake they can determine that."

That's exactly the right instinct. Legitimate missing child cases go through law enforcement channels — Amber Alerts, SFPD bulletins, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Random flyers stapled to telephone poles with no case number, no law enforcement contact info, and no official backing? That's a red flag.

But the situation also highlights a trust problem. Another local noted the inherent awkwardness: "Yeah, I'm not taking down missing child posters." And honestly? That's a reasonable gut reaction. Nobody wants to be the person who ignored a missing kid.

So here's the practical takeaway: if you see missing person flyers that don't reference any police department, case number, or official hotline, don't call the number on the flyer. Call SFPD's non-emergency line instead. Let them verify whether it's a real case. It takes two minutes and could prevent someone from being located by the exact person they're hiding from.

The instinct to help is good. But in a city where we've seen no shortage of people gaming public trust — from fake fundraisers to fraudulent nonprofits — a little healthy skepticism isn't cynicism. It's common sense.