Sandusky police cited two city residents after they staged a murder scene and disseminated a picture of the hoax on Facebook.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, several officers rushed to a Meigs Street home near East Madison Street for a report of a homicide. A related police report noted several children and other people were inside the residence.

Police later determined the home’s occupants, Nataleigh Schlette and Micah Risner, faked the death.

“She got into the bathtub, and they put ketchup all over to make it look like he murdered her,” Sandusky police Sgt. Dawn Allen said. “He started sending the picture and texting that he did it.”