Drivers cruising along Carolina Avenue in Washington, N.C., got an unsettling bit of roadside news this week: skeletal human remains were found tucked into a stormwater drain off U.S. 17 Business, in the middle of a busy five-lane commercial stretch filled with motels, restaurants and shops, authorities said.
According to a June 3 news release from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Washington police were called around 2 p.m. Wednesday to the 900 block of Carolina Avenue, where officers discovered the bones in the drainage area. The sheriff’s office said investigators are now working with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and forensic specialists at East Carolina University to figure out who the person was and what happened, as reported by The Charlotte Observer. No identifying details have been released while forensic testing continues.
Police say bones looked old
Based on what investigators saw at the scene, the remains did not appear to be recent. “The Washington Police Department believes the remains have been there for an extended period of time based on their condition,” the sheriff’s release said, according to The Charlotte Observer. The 900 block of Carolina Avenue where they were found runs along a five-lane span of U.S. 17 Business lined with motels and shopping plazas, a spot more known for traffic and takeout than crime scenes.
Who’s investigating the find
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office says it has asked the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and forensic specialists at East Carolina University to help identify the remains and determine a cause of death. The SBI’s website notes that the agency routinely assists local law-enforcement agencies with complex criminal investigations and specialized forensics work (N.C. SBI). The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services explains that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner oversees medicolegal death investigations and autopsies statewide (N.C. DHHS).
How the public can help
Investigators are asking anyone who might know something about the case to contact the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office or the Washington Police Department. Contact information and an online tip form are listed on the sheriff’s website, which includes a 24-hour phone line and web submission option (Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office). Authorities are also reminding the public not to disturb any potential evidence in the area and to leave discoveries of remains to law enforcement and medical examiners.
The Washington discovery is the latest in a run of unusual finds involving human remains in eastern North Carolina in recent months, including bones found along the shoreline near Wilmington and other quarry recoveries. For more on the Wilmington case and how state experts respond when human remains surface, see coverage of the Wilmington shoreline skull mystery.
