WEST OCEAN CITY, Md.- Police are providing more answers about a mysterious container containing bones and other items that was found in West Ocean City on Tuesday morning.
According to Lt. Ed Schreier of the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to Gudelsky Park at Stinky Beach in West Ocean City to investigate the possible recovery of a bone. Deputies met with a couple who stated that they were wading out in the water and came across an object that appeared to be like a suitcase or box. They reached into the object and pulled out items such as parts of a woman’s shoe, pottery, and what appeared to be a bone.
The bone was was collected and sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office to determine if it bone is human or an animal.
According to Schreier, the object that contained the aforementioned Items was located buried in the sand about 20 feet off the low tide shoreline.
The Maryland State Police and Maryland Natural Resources Police Dive teams were requested to respond due to the fact the object could not be easily removed from the sandy bottom.
Schreier said the dive team is not centralized and troopers and officers must come from all parts of the state to the scene of the incident along with their equipment. During their response time the tide changed and what was in 3-6 inches of water was now submerged in five feet of water. Divers ultimately discontinued the search and resumed it Wednesday morning at low tide, according to Schreier. Schreier said that at around 11 a.m., dive teams responded back to the scene and waded out in the low water and located the object. After
examination, it was determined that the object was not a suitcase, but a wooden barrel that was deteriorating quickly. As it was touched pieces were falling off, Schreier said. Divers began digging around it in an attempt to remove it from the sand. Those attempts were unsuccessful due to the barrel falling apart, according to Schreier.
A decision was made to dig out the inside of the barrel to identify its contents. After digging out the inside contents of the barrel, only sand, clams, and mussels were located. A scapula of a deer was found near the barrel.
The operation was closed down at that point. The suspected bone was sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office for identification.
Schreier said authorities are waiting for the identification of the suspected bone and will provide more information when it becomes available.
The barrel was located in the water off of Stinky Beach in West Ocean City, Maryland. (Photo: WBOC)
