Police in Philadelphia are trying to get to the bottom of a disturbing case that began Monday night when they responded to calls that a child-size casket was found on a sidewalk. Upon opening the casket, they discovered a “bag of organs” inside -- but no body.
"According to the medical examiner, they were in fact human organs. We believe they belonged to an infant or a child," Chief Inspector Scott Small told CBS Philadelphia.
He also noted that the casket appeared to be new and that it seemed to have been recently pried open.
“There have been cases where people take remains or human bodies, for whatever unusual reasons,” Small said.
According to The Associated Press, the organs are thought to have belonged to a 3- to 4-month-old child.
While the casket was discovered nearby the Mt. Vernon Cemetery in North Philadelphia, police searched the burial grounds and found nothing unearthed.
WPVI-TV reported that authorities also searched a second nearby cemetery but found no evidence of the graves being disturbed. They are currently contacting local funeral homes to look into whether the casket may have come from one of the mortuaries.
While police have not mentioned any leads, in their broadcast, CBS Philadelphia reported that “a surveillance video from a nearby gas station shows police arriving to the scene.” It’s possible that the surveillance video also captured the perpetrators.
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