KARACHI, Pakistan'In the latest twist to the already enigmatic case of kidnapped American journalist Daniel Pearl, top police investigators rushed to a hospital in the port city of Karachi early Monday only to find that a body brought there with a bullet wound in the head was not that of the U.S. reporter.
The body had been dumped in an old quarter of the sprawling, crime-ridden city and was brought to a public hospital, then transferred to a private hospital in the upscale Clifton district.
Summoned to the facility, investigators and close colleagues of Pearl from the Wall Street Journal quickly ruled out the possibility that the body was Pearl's, based on its smaller stature, darker complexion and different teeth, according to Manzoor Mughal, senior superintendent of police in Karachi.
\It wasn't even a close match,' U.S. Consulate spokesperson Lonnie Kelley said.
The still-unidentified body was believed to be that of a foreign male, possibly an Iranian, Mughal said.
""There was a threat that kidnappers were going to dump [Pearl's] body,' said Tariq Jamil, deputy superintendent of police in Karachi. ""That's why we take these reports seriously.'
The development marked the second time in three days that those closest to the case feared that Pearl, who disappeared Jan. 23, might be dead. On Friday, Western news organizations received an e-mail'at the time believed to be from the kidnappers'declaring that Pearl had been killed and his body dumped in one of the city's graveyards.
As the latest scare passed early Monday, emotionally drained investigators once again returned to the assumption that Pearl remains alive, in a case that has now expanded to other major cities.
Senior law-enforcement authorities said Sunday that they have fully discounted the e-mail received Friday, which at first seemed like a credible death announcement.
""We believe Mr. Pearl is alive,"" said Syed Kamel Shah, inspector general of police for the region that includes Karachi.
