"This Skull Looks Real"... Anthropologist Surprised While Browsing Prop Shop Reports Incident

Used Store Halloween Corner Decoration
Police Investigate Considering Crime Possibility

A skull displayed in the Halloween corner of a secondhand store in the United States was revealed to be that of a 'real human.' So far, no signs of trauma or other marks have been found on the skull, but the police are investigating with the possibility of a crime in mind.

Real skull found in an American store.
Photo by NYT

According to major U.S. media outlets on the 5th (local time), a human skull was discovered at a secondhand store in Fort Myers, Florida, the day before. The item was being sold for $4,000 (approximately 5.2 million KRW).

Anthropologist Michelle Karl Hoon, who happened to be shopping at the store at the time, discovered that the item was a real human skull and reported it to the police. Karl Hoon stated during the investigation, "The skull belongs to a Native American."

Police investigations revealed that the item is a human skull from 75 years ago. Although there are currently no signs of trauma or evidence of a crime on the skull, the police are keeping the possibility of a crime open and are conducting an investigation.

However, regardless of whether a crime occurred, the store owner is likely to face punishment. Florida is one of eight U.S. states where the sale of human remains is clearly illegal. The store owner claimed during the police investigation, "I knew the skull was from a real human," but also said, "I searched on Google to check if selling human remains was illegal, but I could not find any related laws."

The store owner reportedly acquired the skull by purchasing a storage box that belonged to an unidentified elderly person. However, information about the elderly person who sold the storage box is unknown.

The store owner said, "As part of my business, I purchase more than 100 such storage boxes every year, and in many cases, I have not been able to collect any names or contact information from the sellers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.