Police puzzled by dolls left on porches in California city

[July 25, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police said on Thursday they were investigating porcelain dolls that had been left on the doorsteps of at least eight homes in a Southern California beach city that homeowners said bore a resemblance their daughters.

The dolls were found over the past week on porches in San Clemente, a community of more than 60,000 people about 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Orange County Sheriff's Lieutenant Jeff Hallock said in a written statement.

"Families in each of the homes where porcelain dolls were left voiced concern that the dolls resembled their daughters," Hallock said.

He said the dolls had been collected as evidence and were being examined to determine their origin for clues as to who had left them.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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