r/bonecollecting • u/Puzzled_Author5203 • May 13 '25
Bone I.D. - Atlantic Coast Found in body of water at my house
My husband found this during an extremely low tide over this past winter. He was cleaning debris and tossed it on our bulkhead without much thought. I saw it several weeks later on a Saturday and initially thought it was a ham bone but after careful review, it looked more like a knee joint of some sort.
I took several pictures and also searched for an image of a human knee joint. I observed the bone was cleanly cut as if with a band saw.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Several years ago, a woman went missing and her upper thigh was found floating in the water, right around the corner from our home. It was described as being cut cleanly with a band saw. Sadly, because her head and torso were not found, she’s still considered a missing person.
At this point, the story gets crazier. My husband is a first responder and worked the very next day (Sunday). His coworker randomly started talking about having to dive to locate a missing woman’s body parts around the corner from our house. My husband shared his “discovery” with his coworker. This person confirmed the bones were cut cleanly, like the specimen we found. He then called the detective who worked the case and within an hour, he showed up to collect the bones. He explained he would have a coroner examine the bones.
At this point, I was convinced these were human and showed my orthopedic PA on that Monday morning. He agreed they looked human. However, my husband informed me that the coroner stated they were animal bones. I found it odd a coroner would have examined the bones in less than 24 hours.
Something is telling me this is not true and was hoping someone in the Reddit universe may have insights. The suspect was never charged and died. Sadly, the family still has no closure.
For anyone who doubts this story, I can promise all of this is 100% true, albeit an incredible story. If anyone confirms these are more than likely human, I am conflicted on whether I should reach out to the victim’s family.
