Skeletons Found Were Probably Used in Teaching

The mystery surrounding the two human skeletons found at the home of a former mortuary worker cleared a bit Saturday when they were found to be classroom specimens that might have been used for teaching decades ago.

A coroner’s official said an examination of the skeletons showed no foul play.

“It’s not of forensic interest. It’s not a body that was exhumed. They’re not Native American remains,” said Orange County Deputy Coroner Cullen Ellingburgh.

Police found the skeletons while investigating the theft of caskets from an Anaheim mortuary. Authorities found the two stolen caskets, valued at about $12,000, in a separate search of a Santa Ana home. But investigators originally thought the caskets had been stolen by a former employee living at the Anaheim house. Police searching the Anaheim home found the two skeletons in caskets and also found cremated remains.

Cal State Fullerton anthropologist Judy Suchey examined the skeletons and determined they were of white men, most likely in their 40s, from the early 1900s, Ellingburgh said. He said the skeletons were likely used as specimens for teaching, but it was unclear how they ended up in the Anaheim home.

Ellingburgh said there appeared to be no wrongdoing except a possible violation of laws governing the disposal of human remains. He said it might be impossible to learn much from the cremated remains because the ashes are extremely fine.