Hours after a newspaper cited anonymous sources to debunk the story of a 3-year-old pit bull attack victim being kicked out of a KFC restaurant in Jackson, Miss., for scaring other diners, a representative for the family responded on Facebook.

Though the information remains unconfirmed, the Laurel Leader-Call's report has been picked up by outlets around the country, igniting intense debate about the validity of the family's initial claims about Victoria Wilcher and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations that came pouring in after the story went viral, including $30,000 from KFC.

"We continue to take this report seriously, and of course have great sympathy for Victoria and her family. Since we have so far not been able to verify the incident in our internal investigation, we have also hired a third-party consultant to conduct an independent investigation to help us resolve this matter," Jackson KFC franchise owner Kirk Hannon said in a statement to Jackson news station, WJTV.

Victoria's story went viral weeks ago through a post on Victoria's Victories, a Facebook page created by her family after a pit bull attack in April left the toddler bearing significant facial scarring.

"I sat down at the table and started feeding her and the lady came over and said that we would have to leave, because we were disturbing other customers, that Victoria's face was disturbing other customers," Wilcher's grandmother, Kelly Mullins, told WAPT-TV in Jackson.

Though KFC has not yet released the results of its investigation, the Leader-Call's sources, reportedly maintaining anonymity because they aren't allowed to speak on the record, claim surveillance videos and transaction records show no record of Wilcher or Mullins ever visiting the restaurant.

Since the story went viral, more than $135,000 has been raised for Victoria's recovery through gofundme.com. Last weekend, WJTV reported Las Vegas plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Stiles visited Victoria and offered free reconstructive procedures to aid in her recovery.

Read the rest of the report at Leader-Call.com.