Claims that a serial killer is on the loose are spreading around Macon through text messages.
The messages surfaced nearly a month after police found Lauren Giddings' dismembered body near her Macon home near Mercer Law School.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones says people first started calling him Saturday about an eerie string of text messages.
"I don't know who is doing it, and I hope they would stop doing it, this is our city we don't want this city to go into a panic."
The text message begins "This is not a joke, I was recently, advised by a postal worker that there is a serial killer in Macon. The police and media are not wanting to publicize it to reduce fear. The girl from Mercer is not the only body that has been found recently." The text message goes on to tell people to call police for help, and that the suspect is targeting females.
Jones says the messages claims are untrue.
"Totally bogus," he said. "The only body that was found in the Ocmulgee River was the body that was found Sunday."
Crews recovered the body of a man from the river Sunday, after the messages started. He says the body was not dismembered.
The texts refer to Giddings' unsolved killing.
"It is not a cover up, it is not a cover up," Jones said. "They're gonna do their job. The Macon police department is gonna do their job, and I am confident that the person that commited this horrible crime on Ms. Giddings will be brought to justice."