Late night with the Ice Cream man

Social media has been buzzing lately. Maybe you’ve seen the stories, caught glimpses of that music-picture vibe.

Picture this: it’s late at night, late summer, and an ice cream man rolls up … around 2 a.m. You definitely don’t want ice cream. You don’t even want to be near this guy. You ask yourself, why is this ice cream truck here? And then that jingle drifts out into the darkness… of course, you assume it’s nefarious. Something feels very, very off.

So here’s what’s happening: if you’ve been browsing TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen stories being posted, videos being uploaded, suggesting an ice cream man (or men) is showing up in Virginia.. or Pennsylvania, or Ohio.. just pick whichever state the rumor mill drifts toward, and that’s apparently connected to a bunch of missing kids in Virginia and the other states..

People have even equated the missing kids to the plot of WEAPONS that was released two weeks ago in theaters..

On the topic of missing kids, it is true: There have been a LOT of reports in Virginia–so much so that the state police in the state had to issue a statement–with a twist.. Virginia State Police are pushing back against viral social media videos claiming there’s been a mass abduction of children in the state. Officials are saying most of the kids are runaways.. and that the cases of the missing children are not connected.

Additionally, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that the numbers are high in Virginia simply because it is proactive in forwarding every case. Of the 3,274 children reported missing so far this year, a vast majority are runaways and about only 4 percent remain unaccounted for. Only two AMBER Alerts and 25 CODI (missing or endangered children) Alerts have been issued in 2025—and all those children were safely recovered..

But social media will social…

Even Chris Brown spoke about the spike in children vanishing in Virginia..

But then enter the ice cream man angle..

Because of these missing kids and late night appearances reportedly happening with these trucks, people are linking them to alleged crimes by unnamed ice cream men. It is odd.. or worse.. to see an ice cream truck roaming so late at night. On a personal note, a few years ago an ice cream truck pulled up near my house. Kids rushed to it, as they used to, but one summer it showed up around 10:30 p.m.—still summer, still beauty, but the creeping darkness made it feel wrong. Weird. No one bought anything. Even if kids were awake, the instinct was to stay away.

Another post showcases the ice cream man connection..

Now, all the crime-fighter online detectives are saying these ice cream men must be snatching kids. At this point, besides the rumors, is there any real connection between late-night ice cream trucks and missing children? It seems like we are still in the ‘no’ category..

Despite videos like this..

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It doesn’t help that ice cream trucks are creepy.. they show up at night.. and there have been a few infamous ice cream-man crimes.

In November 2010, former ice cream truck driver Michael Keetley murdered two brothers in Ruskin, Florida, and wounded four others. He was seeking revenge against a man nicknamed “Creeper” after being robbed and shot in his ice cream truck, but mistakenly targeted the brothers and their family. Keetley was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole..

In 1994, there was a story about Rosie Palmer being abducted while getting ice cream from a truck..

But as of today, nothing concrete linking the late night ice cream trucks to abductions….

So we’ll keep watching, keep studying, and stay alert. Even though there’s no reason to believe mass criminal gangs are roaming the streets serving soft-serve swirls, we’re not ignoring it.. but we know one thing for sure.. we absolutely will avoid that ice cream man in the dead of night.

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And on that note, let’s enjoy a few stories from MR NIGHTMARE offering 3 disturbing true ice cream truck horror stories…