Someone renovating a house in an old industrial city in South Carolina found a baby’s bones inside a wall, a county coroner said. Authorities collected the remains on Saturday at the house in Pacolet and will send them to a forensic anthropologist to study, Spartanburg County coroner Rusty Clevenger said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how long ago the baby died, or how old he was at the time. The coroner’s statement referred to the bones as “human remains of fetuses”.
“Based on our limited information, the remains are believed to have been hidden for a long period of time,” said Clevenger.
In his 30 years as a coroner, Clevenger told the CBS WSPA-TV affiliate that this is unlike anything he has ever seen.
“It shocks most people’s consciences,” said Clevenger.
Coroner’s Office investigators will work with the anthropologist to determine the baby’s identity, how the child may have died and how the remains ended up inside the house wall on Milliken Street.
The police can be called in to help if the coroner’s investigation determines that something criminal may have happened, said Clevenger.
It will probably take several months to finish the job, said the coroner.