Police Defend Response in SE Texas Body Hoax

HARDIN, Texas (AP) _ The anonymous caller claiming to be a psychic offered police a startling tip: multiple bodies, including those of children, had been buried at a rural Texas home.

Officers searched the property and quickly concluded the tip was a hoax but not before a flurry of media reports indicated that a mass grave had been found containing the remains of as many as 30 people.

Still, authorities insisted Wednesday that they were right to take the information seriously because of the severity of the crime that was alleged. Experts and other law enforcement agencies agreed.

The caller first contacted the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department on Monday, claiming that the bodies were at a home near Hardin, about 70 miles northeast of Houston.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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