Superintendent Smith said "TikTokers have been playing their own private detectives" in this case.
And she said this had significantly distracted the investigation.
"In 29 years in the police service, I've never seen anything like it," she said.
"Some of it's been quite shocking and really hurtful to the family.
"Obviously we can't disregard anything and we've reviewed everything that's come in but, of course, that has distracted us significantly.
"But as long as we are prioritising, which we are doing constantly, on the information that's coming in, that will not distract us from the priority actions that we have been completing."
Superintendent Smith said police had been "inundated with false information, accusations and rumours".
She was joined by Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson, who said "ill-informed speculation and conjecture" had impacted the investigation.
"We've shared more detail in this conference than would normally be the case," he said.
