President Obama not buying home in Rancho Mirage

News Channel 3 has learned the former home of author Joseph Wambaugh is getting a new owner Tuesday night. We’re told a couple from Nebraska is buying the house in the Thunderbird Heights Development in Rancho Mirage.

Normally a home sale like this wouldn’t make news. But, the L.A. Times, a number of national networks and some local outlets have been reporting that President Obama was the buyer of the home.

The reports came after the president spent a weekend in Palm Springs with the first lady and their daughter Malia in June.

News Channel 3 started investigating whether the first family was buying the home the day they left the desert. We never confirmed the information, because it wasn’t true.

We wanted to report our latest information because of the large interest the story generated by reports from other news outlets.