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.
When asked about whether there was an investigation into the person who made a false report against Buttigieg, the Indiana State Police confirmed with IndyStar on July 27 that it is investigating an allegation of false informing in Marshall County, a county in northern Indiana.
“It is the policy of our agency to refrain from publicly identifying those for whom we are investigating, until or unless criminal charges are officially filed,” ISP spokesperson Capt. Ron Galaviz said in an email. “This investigation has been turned over to the County Prosecutor of venue for review, and it would be inappropriate for us to discuss it further.”
The Marshall County prosecutor could not be immediately reached.
Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential cabinet member in American history, documented how child welfare officials in Michigan separated him from his four-year-old twins for 24 hours in a June 26 post on Substack. He writes that the visit was sparked after an anonymous caller claimed a woman had talked to Buttigieg at a conference in Alabama and that Buttigieg allegedly told her that he committed “unspeakable violent crimes.”
Buttigieg said he had never been to the town where the caller claimed they met.
“Everyone knows politics is ugly these days,” Buttigieg, who previously served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in the post. “It’s always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport.”
Indiana child welfare officials did not share the tipster’s name or contact information with Michigan, which they said was in accordance with Department of Child Services policy. The Post found that the agency waited six days after contacting Buttigieg to attempt to get more information about the caller from Indiana officials.
The Michigan State Police eventually found that the complaint was baseless and possibly politically motivated.
Days after the initial investigation, Indiana police told a Michigan child welfare official that the potential caller was a “mentally unstable woman in Indiana,” according to The Post’s review of Michigan police records. IndyStar requested records from Michigan and Indiana police but did not receive them by the time of publication.
When contacted by The Post, the tipster said she lived in Alabama. Records reviewed by The Post show she has lived in Indiana in the past. The Post reported that the woman could not answer basic questions about her claims and said an Indiana State Police officer had since begun “harassing” her.
Indiana DCS could not be immediately reached for comment. Former DCS director Adam Krupp, who now advises the governor on child welfare issues, condemned the initial incident against Buttigieg in a post on X.
“It is a waste of limited resources, traumatic for all involved, and causes irreversible harm,” Krupp wrote.
Buttigieg’s account of his experience has drawn support from both Democrats and Republicans, including Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Breaking news reporter Aubrey Wright contributed reporting.
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Contact breaking politics reporter Marissa Meador at mmeador@indystar.com or find her on X at @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State Police investigating false tip to DCS against Buttigieg
Reporting by Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Marissa Meador, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
