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Tabloid may not be behind deleted messages

The final edition of the "News of the World" hit the London news stands with a simple "Thank You and Goodbye" message on the front, in London on July 10, 2011. Media baron Rupert Murdoch closed the 168-year-old paper after a scandal erupted in regards to tapped telephones. It was the largest United Kingdom newspaper with a circulation of 2.7 million and a readership of 7.5 million. UPI/News International/Yui Mok
The final edition of the "News of the World" hit the London news stands with a simple "Thank You and Goodbye" message on the front, in London on July 10, 2011. Media baron Rupert Murdoch closed the 168-year-old paper after a scandal erupted in regards to tapped telephones. It was the largest United Kingdom newspaper with a circulation of 2.7 million and a readership of 7.5 million. UPI/News International/Yui Mok | License Photo

LONDON, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A British tabloid shut down amid a hacking scandal may not have been responsible for deleting voice mails on a missing girl's cell phone, a lawyer testified.

Neil Garnham of London's police force told a public inquiry that an investigator working for Rupert Murdoch's The News of the World was not assigned to the Milly Dowler story until after the voice mail messages were deleted, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

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Garnham said someone else at the newspaper might have been responsible for the deletions but "the most likely" scenario was that messages were being automatically dropped from the mailbox after 72 hours.

The Dowler family said deletions that occurred when Milly, 13, had not yet been discovered murdered gave them false hope she was alive.

Investigator Glenn Mulcaire, hired by The News of the World, was blamed.

Shortly after accusations about the hacking appeared, Murdoch's British media arm shut down the 168-year-old News of the World and Murdoch met with the Dowler family to apologize.

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