Human remains dug up and stolen from a Florida cemetery at the weekend are likely linked to “ritualistic activity,” investigators said.
Deputies were called to the Edgewood Cemetery in Mount Dora, 30 miles northwest of Orlando, on Sunday after a passerby noticed a damaged grave stone, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
As they drove in to investigate, they discovered at least four distubed graves which were missing some remains. Attempts had also been made to access a fifth.
Concrete lids covering two of the graves had been smashed to pieces and the caskets pried open, deputies said.
“Detectives and crime scene investigators responded to the scene and began the investigation, and found evidence that suggests that this incident is very likely tied to some form of ritualistic activity,” the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Witness Emily Booth, who reported the vandalism, told WESH-TV that she saw the corpse of a man who had been pulled from his grave and had his head removed.
“His body was just laying there. No vault, no top of the coffin, no anything,” Booth said.
“I do think it’s extremely odd that you took a man’s head. What else do you do with that?” she added.
Neighbouring residents did not report hearing any loud noises, only noting that a funeral had taken place at the cemetery on Saturday, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
However, a Mount Dora police officer reported seeing a half-erect “white pop-up tent” in the cemetery early Sunday morning.
The cemetery owner said they didn’t use such tents, and that in any case equipment for Saturday’s funeral would have been cleared away the same day.