Apparent Hoax Call Ties Up Enfield Police

ENFIELD, CT — Police are searching for clues to the identity of a person who made an apparent hoax call Sunday morning, claiming to be a woman who said she had been assaulted and did not know where she was.

Police responded in full force to the Powder Hollow area of Hazardville upon receipt of the call. The caller indicated she had been assaulted and was in a wooded part of town, but she did not know exactly where she was, Police Chief Alaric Fox said.

The call had been received from a "burner phone," an untracable prepaid cellular phone which is replaced frequently to avoid leaving a trail and getting caught up in illegal activities.

"All available hands" searched fruitlessly for two to three hours, Fox said, aided by a drone from the Vernon Police Department.

Fox said a similar call had been received by a police department in nearby Massachusetts. The scenario had the earmarks of "swatting," the action or practice of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address.

"It was an inappropriate use of resources, while we're running around chasing someone else's idea of a joke," Fox said.

The chief added the investigation is ongoing.

Photo credit: Google Maps

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