Search suspended for possible bones in basement of Muskogee hotel

Deputies in Muskogee County Sheriffâ€™s Office suspended a search of an old hotel - which they started searching because of a tip that a child's body was buried inside. <br><br>They say the tip made

Tuesday, March 30th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Deputies in Muskogee County Sheriffâ€™s Office suspended a search of an old hotel - which they started searching because of a tip that a child's body was buried inside.

They say the tip made claims about a crime that was never reported - and that would be at least 30 years old. News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan has details from Muskogee.

The old hotel has a lot of history - but right now it's the center of a mystery - that could be a hoax - or a homicide. Chief Deputy Darrin Smith, Muskogee County Sheriffs Office: â€œThe court clerkâ€™s office got an anonymous letter about a small child buried here at the Muskogee Hotel in an elevator shaft.â€

That letter prompted a limited search of the basement. Deputies found nothing like what the letter said. â€œWe get anonymous tips but this one had some pretty specific things in it that caught our attention and that's really one of the reasons we're looking into so hard.â€

The area that deputies searched is small - just the bottom of an elevator shaft. There's much more area they could search but they won't unless they get more specific information that there's actually something there.

The letter mentioned the name of an convicted killer who could be connected to this case - but at this point they're not sure if what's in this hotel is a case - so far they only have an anonymous tip - that's created lots of questions.