It was the "cold case" that gripped the US but police in Texas said on Friday they had found the girl who was filmed licking a tub of ice cream and returning it to a supermarket fridge in a viral video last week.
ADVERTISEMENTIt was the "cold case" that gripped the US, but police in Texas said on Friday they had found the girl who was filmed licking a tub of ice cream and returning it to a supermarket fridge in a viral video last week.
In the video posted to Twitter last week, a young woman is seen grabbing a tub of Blue Bell Creameries ice cream from a Lufkin, Texas, Walmart freezer aisle, removing the lid and licking the top of the ice cream.
She places the lid back on and laughs while returning the dessert to the shelf.
Lufkin Police and Fire department said they had identified the "Blue Bell licker" along with her boyfriend who is thought to have filmed the video and can be heard encouraging the girl: “Lick it, lick it.”
"They were both forthcoming with what occurred and admitted to the act," the authority wrote on Twitter.
They added that they did not intend to pursue charges against the girl as she is a juvenile — anyone under the age of 17 is considered as such under Texan law — and therefore "what happens from here is at the discretion of the juvenile justice system".
Police are "currently discussing" her boyfriend's involvement with prosecutors to see whether he will face charges, as he is an adult.
What made the case difficult, they said, was a “catfish” using a similar screen name within one letter of the suspect’s who began taking credit for the act.
"There were roughly 4-6 women with similar screen names and appearances that law enforcement had to eliminate – including the catfish – before getting to the actual suspect," they wrote on Facebook.
"It was actually the catfish and NOT our suspect who bragged on Instagram about the incident," police added.
“Yeah, I really did that. You can call it Flu Bell ice cream now ‘cause I was a lil sick last week. Repost yourself doing this. Let’s see if we can start an epidemic (literally)," wrote the person, who ended up not being the perpetrator, according to the authority.
Before they knew the girl's identity, police said she could face a second-degree felony charge of tampering with a consumer product, which comes with a two to 20-year prison term and up to $10,000 (€8,907) in fines, according to the Texas state penal code.