This Halloween, be ready for anything!
In New Haven, a “Lincoln Oak,” planted in 1909 on the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, was smote down by the mighty force of Hurricane Sandy. But tangled in the roots were century-old human skeleton remains and what appears to be a time capsule.
On Monday local artist Silas Finch had dug around the roots after he saw the mighty tree fall looking for old coins. He found what he thought was an animal bone (little did he know). It was not until Tuesday that Katie Carbo arrived to the scene. At 3:15 pm, Katie Carbo reported the findings. She unearthed what she thought was a cool rock, and realized it was actually a skull. The jaw and teeth were still connected to the spinal cord and rib cage.
Alfredo Camargo, the official “Death Investigator,” arrived at 6:55 pm.
The New Haven Independent reports:
“The police had set up a bright spotlight so Camargo could work.
He zipped up his Tyvek suit, put on white rubber gloves, then climbed into the hole in the tree to check out the skeleton.
He then came out and pronounced: “It’s going to take us a while.”
He brought a toolkit with hand-held rakes, sifters, trowels, and brushes. He predicted the job will take at least a couple of hours—if it doesn’t rain.”
Carbo says she was not creeped out at all and said, “I feel like it was just someone’s earthly shell. Their soul is long gone from here.” Curtis T,. a passerby on his way to the homeless shelter, is quoted as saying, “You think it’s the hurricane? I think a dead man trying to tell a tale.” The police say they suspect no foul play because this site used to be a burial ground. New Haven historian Robert Greenberg hypothesized that the remains could be from a victim of smallpox. At this point, who really knows? Concern has been expressed for returning the remains to the family.
For more, check it out here (photo narration is particularly entertaining) and here.
Who else is digging the stop and shop bags apparently being used for evidence?