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Dispatcher on Powell call: Case a 'nightmare'

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The Associated Press Updated 6:26 PM Friday, February 10, 2012

SEATTLE — The dispatcher who took a much-criticized 911 call from a social worker trying to alert authorities to danger at Josh Powell's house before he killed himself and his children says the case has been "a nightmare."

The dispatcher says in an interview with "Dateline NBC" airing Friday that he didn't realize who the social worker was talking about when she mentioned Powell's name. Powell was a person of interest in his wife's 2009 Utah disappearance and had lost custody of his two sons.

On Sunday, Powell grabbed his boys during a supervised visit, locked the door and killed them by setting his house on fire. In the 911 call, the dispatcher asks the social worker seemingly-unrelated questions and tells her deputies have to respond to "life threatening" situations first.

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February 10, 2012 11:22 PM EST

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