July 04, 2017
Police made a disturbing discovery in Allegheny West Monday night, finding a casket fit for a child filled not with a body but with a bag of human organs.
CBS3 reported the casket was first spotted on the 3100 block of West Clearfield Street, directly across the street from Mt. Vernon Cemetery and also close to nearby Laurel Hill Cemetery.
The casket was first found by nearby resident Chris James, who said he initially thought an animal would be inside when he called the police.
Chief Inspector Scott Small told CBS3 that, according to the medical examiner, the casket’s content was, in fact, human organs.
“They believed they belonged to an infant or a child. What’s unusual is, inside the coffin, other than the bag of organs, there was no body,” Small said.
Police said the casket looked newly pried opened, leading examiners to question whether the casket was stolen from a nearby funeral home or dug up from one of the neighboring cemeteries.
“There have been cases where people take remains or human bodies for whatever unusual reason they decide,” Small said.
The casket is now being investigated by the Office of the Medical Examiner, and cadaver dogs will reportedly be used to search Mt. Vernon and Laurel Hill cemeteries nearby for newly dug up graves.
