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False alarm: State Police send out old press release about body in the Charles

The State Police sent out an alert this morning that a body - which would have been the third this week - was found in the Charles near Boston University. They quickly followed up with this correction:

At this time the Massachusetts State Police has experienced an internal issue with its email system. An older email, possibly stored in the system for delivery, was sent out as a new advisory. There was no new body found in the Charles River. We apologize as this appeared as a new advisory.

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Comments

This is unbelievable.

It's starting to remind me a little bit of the Long Island Sniper episode of the early 90s, where a guy was randomly shooting people in order to cover up a planned murder - let's hope that's not what is going on here.

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but there seems to be a lot of confusion.

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I've updated my original post with a copy of the correction State Police sent out. Technology's a bitch, sometimes.

I originally heard about this from another reporter, who asked me if I'd gotten a copy and wondering if it was a duplicate. I then got a copy of the original statement from a law-enforcement source who doesn't send me bogus stuff. So I posted it. And then I got a copy of the correction. Grr, sorry for my role in whipping up a mini-frenzy.

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from Boston.com on Facebook:

Update: Earlier report of third body found in Charles River was a false alarm. Police say they accidentally re-sent a press release from earlier this week. There was no body found today.

ETA - by the time I finished posting this comment, Adam had already updated his post to say the same thing

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OOF.

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"At this time"?

Nobody actually talks or writes like that...why are police and public officials so fond of weird bull like that?

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We should have a "Best Policey English On the Web" contest.

I'll nominate the Medford Police WEB site, which has been designed to provide quality informational services to the general public.

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I'm pretty sure there are other bodies floating around in the Charles. Same goes with the harbor. It's the prime location apparently for disposing of corpses, suicides, and accidental deaths.

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Remember last year when there was that string of deaths along Comm Ave within the space of like a week or two?

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Weren't there a few bodies that were showing up in Boston Harbor like a year or two ago? I remember one being someone who may have been drunk and the others just sort of happening and nothing really being said about it afterwards. Maybe it's not all that odd, but ... is anybody looking into that?

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Don't press releases usually contain a date and time?

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From: MSP Media Relations (POL)
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 9:23 AM
Subject: State Police Advisory for Body in Charles River 10082012

This is a Preliminary Report

At around 8:15 this morning, State Police were advised Boston University Police of a body floating in the Charles River near Boston University. The State Police Marine Unit is en route to the location. Troopers from the Boston and South Boston barracks are on the scene along with Boston Police and Boston University Police and waiting for the arrival of State Police Crime Scene Services and detectives from the Suffolk County DA’s Office. At this time we have no information as to the identity, race or gender of the deceased person.

We will further update you as we receive more information. Please do not call the barracks directly.

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That's pretty stupid. There should be a date and time in the message text (and not a cryptic one like 10082012).

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