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Likely human skull found in Halloween section of Florida thrift store (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 8 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

An anthropologist made a surprising discovery in a Florida thrift shop's Halloween section on Saturday, officials said.

The North Fort Myers shopper spotted a skull and recognized it as a human skull, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. Responding detectives also determined the skull belonged to a human.

The store owner said the skull had been in a storage unit that was purchased years ago, authorities said.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office is working with the local medical examiner to run further tests on the skull. Officials do not believe the case is suspicious in nature.

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[-] OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee 21 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Officials do not believe the case is suspicious in nature

Maybe it's not evidence of a murder or whatever but it is suspicious. Where can you get a human skull as a random individual which isn't suspicious? Like even taking it home from a donated body or an archeological site is suspicious.

[-] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 33 points 8 months ago

In the US there's at least one shop, to the best of my knowledge, that actually sells human parts like skull, femurs etc (JonsBones). So, there might be a legal source 😊

[-] PetDinosaurs@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

Why on earth would people down vote this?

[-] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 7 points 8 months ago

Do they? I don't see seperate votes 🤔 But who cares anyway

[-] PetDinosaurs@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

When I made my comment this morning (say 12 hours ago), the one I replied to was negative 2, iirc.

[-] ArtieShaw@kbin.social 5 points 8 months ago

It could be from a modern collector because as you mentioned, there are only a few states where it's illegal to buy skeletal parts. My guess is that someone inherited it from an old family collection and didn't want to deal with it.

A few generations ago it wasn't completely unusual for a doctor to have a human skull in his office or study. Eventually Gramps dies, his kids or grandkids inherit his stuff, and now they have a skull that they might remember fondly but don't exactly want to display in their front parlor. So they hide it away in a closet. Maybe in its carrying case, but who knows where Old Doc picked it up.

The primary concern in the article seems to be that it was from a looted native grave. That is possible, even probable, given the suspected age. Article about a prolific grave robber from Indiana.

The modern trade in legal skulls comes mostly from Asia (China and India, last time I checked). They're also quite expensive ($2-3k), so it's not likely a modern collector lost track of it among the contents of a storage shed.

[-] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

Maybe someone willed their skull to a Halloween store.

[-] girlfreddy@lemmy.ca 7 points 8 months ago

Imagine being at your grandmother's lawyer's office and hear that she's donated her skull and bones to Halloween-R-Us.

[-] ElleChaise@kbin.social 9 points 8 months ago

That's the spirit.

[-] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

There is a trade of human bones for both medical reasons and to collectors. They almost always come from international sources and are generally legal. Once the hit the US market that is. Before that it can be very hard to tell for sure.

Taking them from donated bodies is mixed depending on the context of donation and taking them from archeology sites is 100% illegal.

[-] crandlecan@mander.xyz 3 points 8 months ago

There's a legal market for it as far as I recall correctly

[-] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Yep there sure is. The origin of the bones is often somewhat nefarious but not necessarily illegal (it depends, it is complicated and due to the international nature of the trade is hard to track). Once they are just bones and in the market in the USA completely legal to trade and own human body parts.

[-] HurlingDurling@lemm.ee 21 points 8 months ago

In a lot of Catholic Latin homes in South America, it's customary to have a skull to ward off evil spirits.

[-] Mint_Raccoon@kbin.social 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The place this happened isn't actually a thrift store, it's an antique mall. Though, to be fair, a lot of the products did come from thrift stores. Here's a more detailed article.

Once I saw it was Lee county I knew the exact place it happened and whose booth had the skull. My mother is actually one of the vendors there.

Edit: Fixed a formatting error.

[-] TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip 5 points 8 months ago

Puts on sunglasses

... Sometimes buying from thrift stores is the only way to get a head.

YYYEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023

121 points (98.4% liked)

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