Police to investigate psychic after false tip that THIRTY ******** were buried in a mass grave sparks huge search involving helicopter, sniffer dogs and the FBI
A huge police search has been abandoned after a false tip from a psychic that the bodies of 30 ******** were buried in a neighbour's back garden.
The FBI was called in, joining 15 car loads of local police officers, sniffer dogs and a helicopter, to scour the area in Liberty County, Texas, after the dramatic call was made this afternoon to authorities.
The female psychic had claimed that up to 30 dismembered bodies were buried at the home, with the majority of the corpses those of ********.
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Searching: Officers surveyed the scene, where they were searching for a mass grave
'There's no crime scene,' Liberty County Judge Craig McNair said this evening, as deputies, Texas Rangers and FBI agents wrapped up a fruitless search of the property.
McNair and Captain Rex Evans, spokesman for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, said the woman who twice called in the tip would be investigated for making a false report.
Evans said the sheriff's office decided to take the tip seriously because the psychic claimed ********'s bodies were among those at the home in Hardin, about 51 miles east of Houston.
'At this time no bodies have been recovered. We have investigated this part of the scene as much as we can,' Evans said.
The owner of the property, trucker Joe Bankston, had told local paper the Houston Chronicle that his *** Joe is a convicted sex offender, but said the boy hadn't lived in their home for more than a year.
'He lived with us for a little while, but had to go to Michigan about a year ago for a court appearance and never came back,' Bankston said. 'Last I heard, he was in Ohio.'
Bankson, who left the home on Sunday and is currently in Dallas, on route to Georgia with his wife, had insisted he had no idea why police were searching his house.
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Closing in: Police officers raid the home in Texas to search for bodies
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Mass grave: The FBI investigated the scene, where 30 bodies were said to have been buried
'I haven't ****** anybody,' he said. 'And I have a lot of friends, but I haven't helped anybody bury any bodies.'
Throughout the evening there was much confusion about what officers had discovered at the scene.
A Texas county sheriff's office said on there was no evidence that bodies had been found - after initially saying up to 30 corpses were discovered.
Reports suggested police were taking the matter seriously after human ***** was found on the property.
But rather than being linked to a mass ******, t is thought the ***** came from a suicide attempt at the property a few weeks ago.
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Raid: Police cars surrounded the land this evening
Premium Image Content
Upgrade to Premium to view all images in this thread
Grave: The land where the bodies were said to have been found
Read more:
Premium Link
Upgrade
