As Wednesday afternoon waned and the Bomber, Dear’s deadline passed, law enforcement officials continued to monitor Batesville banks, Deputy Police Chief Don Province said.

The note found on the front door of Kenneth Brasell’s store early Friday, Jan. 2, claimed that a bomb had been placed in a bank and would explode on or before 2 p.m. January 7. Law enforcement officials conducted extensive searches Friday using bomb sniffing dogs on Friday (see following story) and again late Tuesday, January 6, Province said.

“We went bank to all the banks this morning and searched around,” Batesville Police Chief Tony Jones said Wednesday.

Several Batesville banks closed from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday as a precaution.

“You just err on the side of caution for your employees and customers,” Renasant Bank Community President Calvin Flint said.

Meanwhile law enforcement officials continue to analyze evidence from the note found Friday and from a second bomb threat telephoned to Batesville Wal-Mart late Sunday afternoon.

Several comments at www.panolian.com pointed to similarities between the “Saw” movies and the recent Batman movie, speculating that the note writer was copying elements in an attempt to perpetrate his fantasies.