A preliminary search by law enforcement officers earlier in the day found evidence of what they believed was blood, but no sign of anything else, leading them to suggest the call may have been a hoax.
A search warrant was obtained and a quick look around revealed nothing out of order. A state law enforcement source confirmed that DPS officials had obtained the warrant and entered the residence, after making a fruitless search of the property.
A foul stench emanating from the house was found to be coming from piles of rotting garbage. And the blood found at the residence was related to an earlier incident, the source told the Houston Chronicle.
"At the moment, there's no validity to the report," the source said. "There's nothing that matches what the psychic said."
A neighbor said authorities were congregating at the home of Joe Bankson and that his 16-year-old daughter and her 19-year-old fiance also lived on the property
Bankson, reached in Dallas where he was travelling with his wife, told the Chronicle he did not know why police might be at his home.
Bankson and his wife are long-haul truckers who said they were en route to Georgia. They left Sunday, he said.
They have lived at the residence for three years, he said.
"I haven't killed anybody," he said. "And I have a lot of friends, but I haven't helped anybody bury any bodies."
He told KHOU-TV that blood on the porch and in the house was the result of a suicide attempt a few weeks ago by his daughter's boyfriend.
"He got drunk and cut his wrist," Bankston told the TV station. The boyfriend, an Army soldier who was AWOL, is now in a military psychiatric ward in Killeen, according to Bankston. He said he cleaned the blood stains himself, but was not sure he got it all and had filed a police report with the sheriff's department after the suicide attempt.Bankston also told KHOU that his son is a convicted sex offender, but said he hasn't lived in Hardin for over a year.
A neighbour said she was friends with the teenage daughter of Bankston who lived in the farmhouse and that the teenager and her fiancé had moved out of the house a while ago.
Shortly before 6 p.m., Liberty County sheriff's spokesman Rex Evans said officers had not exhumed any bodies.
"At this time we have not recovered any bodies," he said. "We only received information of a possible crime scene here at this location. Upon our arrival we determined that there was a need for a search warrant. Once that warrant arrives at the scene we will further our investigation."
"We're taking this very, very seriously. I do hope and pray this is a false alarm," Liberty County Judge Craig McNair told reporters outside the house.
Texas Rangers also arrived Tuesday evening with a search warrant to allow authorities to search the home.
McNair said the psychic called the Liberty County Sheriff's Office late Monday and early Tuesday reporting that bodies were at the scene, and deputies decided to investigate because they found what appeared to be blood on a door.
MCNair also said deputies noticed an odor in the back yard could not idetnify it.
By Tuesday evening, deputies were milling around the house near Hardin, Texas, about 51 miles (82 km) east of Houston, waiting for a search warrant. McNair said the occupants had not been home Monday or Tuesday, but their daughter was going to bring a key and allow officers inside.
Conflicting reports are coming out of southeast Texas of a mass grave with dozens of bodies, as other sources tell local media that no evidence has yet been found of anyone deceased.A state law enforcement source said deputies had been directed to the site by a psychic, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The area is largely rural with a mix of fields and small wooded areas. Law enforcement officials were staged along County Road 2048 near a house that was surrounded by trees.
About 15 Sheriff's Office vehicles and at least one cadaver dog are on the scene, KHOU reported.
The Cleveland Advocate reported that authorities were seeking a search warrant in order to search the home, where some of the individuals involved have been "uncooperative," according to Evans.
An FBI official says an evidence response team has been put on standby in case its neededKTLA News4:02 p.m. PDT, June 7, 2011
HOUSTON, Texas -- Authorities have found blood at a home in Liberty County where a tipster claimed the bodies of 30 to 40 dismembered people, including children, were buried.
Officers from Liberty County were allegedly tipped off about the alleged mass grave by a psychic.
"All we know is the sheriff department received a call about a mass grave, or something like that, with several bodies," a source told the Houston Chronicle.
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"They went and checked it, and there was nothing there. The caller went back and said, 'No, you went to the wrong house.'
"They go back out and go to the house and see something dark that could have been blood, and do a persumpting test that it was human blood."
Liberty County sheriff's spokesman Rex Evans said officers had not exhumed any bodies.
"At this time we have not recovered any bodies," he said. "We only received information of a possible crime scene here at this location. Upon our arrival we determined that there was a need for a search warrant. Once that warrant arrives at the scene we will further our investigation."
khou.com
Posted on June 7, 2011
Liberty County bodies
LIBERTY COUNTY -- Liberty County sheriff's deputies are on the scene of a home in Hardin where a tipster told them several bodies are buried.
The house is located at near the intersection of County Roads 2048 and 2049.
Sheriff's deputies said they found blood on the scene and are now trying to get a warrant to search further, according to the Cleveland Advocate.
About 15 sheriff's department vehicles and at least one cadaver dog are on the scene.
The Beaumont FBI has also been asked to assist in the investigation.
We'll have more details on this story as they become available.
KHOU.com staff
Investigators said someone told them about the location, but did not elaborate.
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The FBI was called in to assist the investigation.
UPDATE: Reuters News Agency
HOUSTON—Texas authorities on Tuesday have found up to 30 bodies, possibly all children, buried at a house in a rural county east of Houston, local media reported.
The Liberty County Sheriff's Office said 25 to 30 bodies were found, according to KPRC television.
Preliminary reports indicated the bodies are those of children, the TV station reported.
The sheriff did not immediately return telephone calls or e-mails by Reuters.
Investigators said someone told them about the location, but they did not elaborate, the station said.
Local newspaper Cleveland Advocate said the tipster told authorities dozens of dismembered bodies were buried at the scene.
Liberty County sheriff's deputies are currently on the scene at the home where a tipster reportedly told them 25 to 30 dismembered bodies are buried
Some of the bodies are children, according to the source, reports KHOU.
The tip came in to police Tuesday afternoon, and the tipster claimed that dozens of dismembered bodies were buried in the grave, according to local paper The Cleveland Advocate.
About 15 sheriff's department vehicles and at least one cadaver dog are on the scene.
The Beaumont FBI office has also been asked to assist in the investigation.
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