Workers find two human skulls under home's garage [Crockett, CA]

CONTRA COSTA TIMES ^ | Tue, Feb. 17, 2004 | By Kristi Belcamino

[vikingchick]

CROCKETT - Workers renovating a house on First Avenue on Tuesday morning found two skulls while they were digging in the garage, police said.

The Contra Costa Coroner's Office determined the skulls were human. Crime lab technicians are excavating the area looking for any other bones, said Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.

The discovery was made at 10 a.m. in the 900 block of First Avenue, Lee said.

"At this point we have more questions than answers," he said. "We don't know who these people are, how long they've been there or whether they are linked to any crime . . . right now it could be anything."

[GeronL]

interesting

[BurbankKarl]

Skull 'n Bones?

[vikingchick]

"right now it could be anything."

Except accidental deaths.

[vikingchick]

Just skulls so far. :)

[California74]

well i guess they're keeping an open mind. I mean, it's possible they built on top of an ancient indian burial ground or something. (yeah right).

Or like on that episode of Frasier when they find the skull under the floorboards of the house they grew up in...

[vikingchick]

Zodiac killer?

[California74]

Zodiac killer?

Possible. Near water. Just north of San Francisco... it will be interesting to follow this story and find out what happened.

[oceanperch]

I remember him as a kid had us spooked.

Crockett is it still a nice "little" town?

[suzyq5558]

I just saw a program on court tv recently that had several stories about bodies buried under homes and years later during renovation the bones are found. things that make you go HMMMMMMMM........

[vikingchick]

[update: one skull wore a beanie, and the building was a former antique toy store]

Macabre find shuts down Crockett building site

By Tom Lochner

CONTRA COSTA TIMES


CROCKETT - Workers lifting the floor of a garage to build a foundation Tuesday morning discovered two human skulls, one of them wearing a hat.

While Contra Costa coroner's officials confirmed that the skulls are human, they could not determine the sex or age of the people they belonged to, how long they were there or how they got there, pending laboratory analysis, said sheriff's Lt. Daniel Terry..

The building at First Avenue and Flora Street where the skulls were found once housed an antique toy store and was sold about two years ago.

Rufus Sjoberg, 24, and another worker had removed some of the garage's wooden floor and begun digging in the dirt shortly after 10 a.m. when Sjoberg felt something hard.

"I thought I hit some clay pots," said Sjoberg, who soon realized differently.

"It kind of threw me off," Sjoberg said. "I wasn't expecting to come up with a handful of skull."

"One of them was inside a beanie," Sjoberg continued. "The other one was just sittin' there, upright, neck down."

The beanie was a blue knit ski-style cap, he said.

Next Sjoberg discovered a jawbone "with all the teeth knocked out. Then I stopped digging."

Sjoberg, a piledriver who does carpentry and fixes cars as well, called the building's co-owner, Shannon Brownlee.

"I thought they were (kidding) me but I went down there anyway and it turns out they weren't (kidding)," said Brownlee, who called authorities.

Terry said investigators would check nationwide for "any law-enforcement cases that have two missing heads" and research the building's occupancy history for clues.

From 1977 to 2002, the building housed Snook's Nook, an antique warehouse specializing in automotive toys. Brownlee and a partner bought the building about three years ago from store owner Tom Snook, who rented space there for another year.

Sjoberg said he used the garage as a workshop for the last year and a half. A neighbor, Scott Lawton, a carpenter and contractor, said he rented the garage for several years before that while Snook owned the building.

"I built a lot of stuff in that shop," Lawton said. "Never thought there would be someone there I didn't know."

Sjoberg said someone had done "sloppy carpentry work," cutting through floor joists and planks, then closing the hole with two plywood covers, nailed side by side.

"These heads, they weren't that old," Sjoberg said. "You could tell by the shape the beanie was in. It was in good shape."

Snook, 79, contacted at home in Benicia about the find, said, "You're kidding me, really? I'll be damned."

"Well, I've never murdered anybody that I know of," Snook said. "I don't know how they got there."

Snook said he had several tenants over the years, including some "rough guys," and once used the garage himself, but is not aware of the floor ever being opened.

Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said the entire building is considered a crime scene. He could not say if the skulls could have been slipped into their position under the garage from outside.

The ground under the garage has eroded away, providing a shelter for stray cats.


http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/7979353.htm

[suzyq5558]

bet it's one of renters of the garage. LE will go through all the rental records and do interviews. I'd probably faint dead away if i were to ever come across skeletons under my home or garage!! interesting story i'll check court tv to see if it's up there . thanks for putting the article up for me read:)

[vikingchick]

You're welcome!

[GeronL]

could be anything at all, we find bodies lying around all the time with no connection to crimes at all.

[vikingchick]

Update: Skulls belong to American Indians, experts say

[GeronL]

I was being sarcastic of course

[vikingchick]

I know you were..... :)

[CounterCounterCulture]

Skulls belong to American Indians, experts say

By Kristi Belcamino

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

MARTINEZ - A forensic anthropologist has determined that two skulls found underneath a garage in Crockett this week are those of American Indians and more than 100 years old.

The skulls, those of a male and female, were found Tuesday by workers renovating a house on First Avenue. One of the skulls wore a cap.

"It appears that this was not the original burial site and was a secondary burial location," said Paul Holes, supervising criminalist with the county crime lab. "It's clear that someone may have had the skulls and at some point placed them underneath the garage. The cap found with the skulls was merely used as a container."

An expert from the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office said the skulls did not show any signs of trauma. They are considered "historic," or more than a century old, the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

Excavation at the house has stopped.

The California Native American Heritage Commission will take responsibility for the skulls and make arrangements for burial.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/7992435.htm

I swear it wasn't me ;-)

[CounterCounterCulture]

Didn't see #15

Disregard ;-)

[vikingchick]

Hi, CounterCounter!

Unrelated, but I have a new whacko theory coming up at 1:19 Pacific time. There's a new moon coming, and it's supposed to be connected to earthquakes. Hold onto your hat! LOL.

"February 20, 2004, Friday: The new moon birth is at 9:19 UT i.e., 4:19 am Eastern Standard Time - 1:19 am Pacific Standard Time"

".....Last but not least, it may make more sense to expect stronger earthquakes during a new moon rather than the full moon.

During the full moon, the Moon and the Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. Their gravitational forces pull Earth from two opposing directions, canceling each other to a degree. But, the new moon occurs when the Moon and the Sun are located on the same side of the Earth. The combined gravity of both bodies pull the Earth from one direction."

Let's see what happens! ha ha.