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Police: Prank Call Led To Woman's Stroke

Girls Face Phone Harassment Charges

POSTED: 7:48 am CDT March 23, 2007
UPDATED: 6:01 pm CDT March 23, 2007

Two Franklin County girls are facing charges of allegedly making a prank call that led to a woman suffering a stroke.

Watch: Woman Says Prank Call Caused Stroke

Both 13-year old girls live in Winchester.

The girls are accused of leaving a frightening message on the cell phone owned by Algood, Tenn., resident Beverly Dickson.

"Hello, Beverly. I want to play a game. You need to decide if life is worth living for. We have one of your friends hidden in your house. You must find them within 10 minutes and get the key out of their heart. Get out of your house because there are vents and there is toxic gas that will be fogged out in 10 minutes. It will kill you in half a minute, so you decide, it's your game. Do you want to live or die?" the message said.

Police said they were able to trace the cell phone call to Winchester. Police said the two teens made several other calls to friends but that is was the one to Dickson that caused trouble.

Police said Dickson was in a funeral procession when she checked the voice message.

Dickson was rushed to a hospital after checking the voicemail.

“She's doing OK. She's nervous, going back to work. (She has) trouble sleeping (and) waking up at night,” said Dickson’s husband, M.J.

Algood Police Chief Jim Eldridge said he hopes this will be a wake-up call to those who are thinking about making harassing phone calls whether they are pranks or not.

Both girls have been charged with phone harassment.

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