‘Body’ found dumped near Alaska harbor was display skeleton. Now police have a mystery

Police rushed to remove human remains from the water near an Alaska harbor — but the skeletal parts were wired together.

The Juneau Police Department received a report of possible human remains Monday, Feb. 21. Officers went to the Douglas Harbor to recover the remains from the water but found something else instead.

“It was determined that the remains were that of a skeleton, but the type one might see in a classroom and used for educational purposes,” police said on Facebook. “The skeletal parts were wired and connected together to keep their shape.”

Police don’t know where the skeleton came from or how it got in the water. People on Facebook guessed the skeleton was someone’s old Halloween decoration.

“JPD will work with the Alaska Medical Examiner’s office to determine the outcome of the skeleton,” police said.

Social media was flooded with jokes about the skeleton. One person said it sounded “like he marrowly escaped the fishes.”

“Must have been unable to swim because he was bone tired,” another person said.

Other people were mad that someone would dump the skeleton.

“What a terrible thing for someone to do and a horrible waste of money that the city had to spend,” a commenter said. “Shame on whoever dumped the fake bones.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 8:15 AM with the headline "‘Body’ found dumped near Alaska harbor was display skeleton. Now police have a mystery."