No mass grave found near Hardin, Texas

(CBS/KHOU) HARDIN, Texas - No bodies were found Tuesday at a Texas farmhouse that authorities had investigated after a tip from a person claiming to be a psychic, a sheriff's official said.

The "psychic" had told authorities that there were dozens of dismembered bodies buried at the house, about 70 miles northeast of Houston, which set off a mad scramble of law officials and news trucks to the scene.

Liberty County Sheriff's Capt. Rex Evans said at a press conference after the property was searched that there was no indication of bodies being anywhere on the rural property, CBS affiliate KHOU reports.

Officials say the sheriff's office had received two calls from a person who said dismembered bodies would be found, KHOU reports. Evans said authorities took the tip seriously in part because the caller had details about the interior of the house that only someone who had seen it could have known.

The hunt now shifts to the caller who fed them the tips, Evans said.

"We are going to continue our investigation and find out how this individual had this information in the first place," Evans said.

Liberty County Judge Craig McNair, the county's top elected official, said he did not regret the sheriff's response to the tips.

"We have to take tips like this very seriously," McNair said.

Property owner Joe Bankston said he was shocked by the reports of bodies on his property.

"This is like something out of a novel," Bankston said by phone from Dallas, reports KHOU.

Bankston said his daughter lives in the house.

He said there's blood on the porch and in the house because his daughter's former boyfriend tried to commit suicide a couple of weeks ago.

"He got drunk and cut his wrist," Bankston said. "It took me all day to clean the inside of the house. I'm not sure I got it [the blood] all."

The boyfriend, an Army soldier who was AWOL, is now in a military psychiatric ward in Killeen, according to Bankston. He said a police report was filed with the sheriff's department after the suicide attempt.

Bankston said he's owned the property for a little over three years. He admitted his son, Joe, is a convicted sex offender, but said he hasn't lived in Hardin for over 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."