Originally Posted by brassmonkey

HOUSTON (Reuters) ? Texas authorities Tuesday found up to 30 bodies, including children, buried in a mass grave in a rural home 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 they were children, the TV station reported.

The sheriff did not immediately return telephone calls or e-mails by Reuters.

FBI spokeswoman Kim Barkhausen in Houston confirmed to Reuters that the FBI had been asked to help with the investigation, but would not elaborate.

Investigators said they received a report about the location, but they did not elaborate, the station said.

Local paper Cleveland Advocate said the tipster told authorities dozens of dismembered bodies were buried at the scene.

Sheriff's deputies had closed down a rural intersection at the scene about 51 miles east of Houston. Aerial television footage showed a brick house in a stand of thick trees at the end of a rural road.

(Reporting by Kristen Hays and Erwin Seba; Editing by Doina Chiacu)