Authorities Have Captured the 'Blue Bell Licker'

Following a weeklong search, Lufkin, Texas police have identified the teenager who traumatized a nation of ice cream lovers with video of herself licking the top of a half-gallon of Blue Bell ice cream before putting it back in a Walmart freezer.

The video of the teen opening a container of “Tin Roof” ice cream, licking it, and then returning it to the freezer at the prompting of an off-camera man has been viewed more than 12 million times. Some of those viewers were Blue Bell execs, who were not thrilled their ice cream was potentially getting Ariana Granded before being sold to unsuspecting Lufkinites (possibly because they’re still a bit titchy over all that bad listeria press). The company did some detective work to identify the store and then Lufkin police identified the 17-year-old from the video, who “is connected to the area through her older boyfriend’s family.”

Both the girl in the video and her boyfriend admitted to tampering with the ice cream, which is a felony. And though police originally said dessert desecration could be punishable by as much as 20 years in prison, they’ve moved the case to juvenile court. The boyfriend, however, may face charges as an adult. Police aren’t releasing her name due to the fact she’s still a minor but have dubbed her, accurately, if not creatively, the “Blue Bell Licker.”

In a press release, Blue Bell announced that the company also might have located the saliva-laced product: “Based on security footage, the location and the inspection of the carton, we believe we may have recovered the half gallon that was tampered with.”

Meanwhile, a Corpus Christi, Texas Walmart posted security guards armed with squirt guns in front of its precious Blue Bell vaults to fend off potential copycats, which is a start, but not nearly enough. Protecting America’s desserts should be our top priority.