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Police who investigated a tip that more than 30 bodies were buried in rural Texas came up with nothing and said it was fake, but not before a slew of media agencies reported on it.
On Tuesday, a number of media reports said that a mass grave contained dozens of bodies, many of which were children, but police told The Associated Press that it was a hoax.
The bodies were apparently buried in a mass-grave type setting on a remote piece of property in Hardin, which is somewhat close to Houston.
The next day, local authorities said that they had the right to investigate the tip due to how extreme the crime was. Reports later emerged that they looked into the tip based on a phone call from a psychic.
"I do believe there was perhaps a moment of pause, yes," sheriff's Capt. Rex Evans said, according to AP. "However, due to the severity of the allegations she was making, we felt it prudent to at least make the attempt to investigate it and to determine whether or not the information she had given had any validity or not."
Reuters came out with the first report on Tuesday. After that, a number of other media, including the New York Times, used the same report. The original Reuters report said it cited media.
The people who live on the property where the bodies supposedly were located are long-haul truck drivers who are currently on the job."Finding out that the police are in my yard for dead bodies? That's kinda panicking me," Joe Bankson, 44, told the Houston Chronicle.
"I haven't killed anybody," he added. "And I have a lot of friends, but I haven't helped anybody bury any bodies."
