July 27, 2026Updated July 28, 2026, 10:32 a.m. ET
This story has been updated to add comment from the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Indiana State Police are investigating the origins of a false tip that led Michigan child welfare officials to separate former U.S. transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg from his children in June, the agency confirmed with IndyStar on July 27.
The tip was initially called into Indiana's child welfare hotline, The Washington Post reported July 27, before it was referred to Michigan, where Buttigieg currently lives.
The national outlet's reporting revealed that officials in both Indiana and Michigan did not thoroughly investigate the claim before interviewing Buttigieg in June. Michigan police later determined the tip to be false, and Indiana state police allegedly described the potential tipster as "mentally unstable," according to The Post.
The case is one of the latest examples of targeted political violence, including a surge of swatting attempts against Indiana senators mulling mid-decade redistricting. Such incidents increased by 30% in 2025 compared to the previous year, a report from Princeton University found.
Making a false child welfare report is a crime, punishable by up to a year in prison if it's a person's first false reporting offense. It would rise to a felony if it's not a person's first offense.
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