Skeleton Unearthed at Defunct Hotel

A landscaper working in the courtyard of an abandoned mid-city hotel unearthed the skeletal remains of a person wrapped in a blanket, authorities said Sunday.

The worker was turning over soil with a pick at 11:30 a.m. Saturday when he struck an orange blanket buried in a planter box of the building at 1250 S. Western Ave., said Officer Frank Ramirez of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Wilshire Division.

“He tugged hard on the blanket and a skull popped out,” Ramirez said. “It landed face-up on the ground.”

“He was very concerned about it,” Ramirez added. “He ran to tell his boss, who notified police.”

Homicide investigators called to the scene found an entire skeleton, Ramirez said.

“The skull had buck teeth and several other teeth missing,” he said.

The coroner’s office was expected to determine the age and sex of the remains later in the week, a spokeswoman said.

The building, which was abandoned 18 years ago, has been undergoing renovation for at least two years for use as an 90-unit apartment building, Ramirez said.