An off-duty Omaha detective volunteering at a trash cleanup in Hummel Park stumbled onto what appeared to be human skeletal remains Saturday morning, prompting officers to swarm the North Omaha green space just before 10 a.m. Investigators say they are now working to figure out who the remains belong to, and as of Saturday, they had found no signs of foul play.
According to WOWT, the discovery happened during a trash cleanup effort at the park, when the off-duty detective came across what looked like skeletal remains. Omaha police officers were dispatched to the scene just before 10 a.m. Saturday, the station reports. As KETV notes, the find happened during a volunteer cleanup effort at the park, per an Omaha Police Department news release.
Detectives Work to Identify the Remains
Detectives are now working to determine the identity of the remains, the station's report states. Police said there are no indications of foul play at this time, though the investigation remains ongoing, per the same account. No further details about the exact location within the park or the identity of the off-duty detective have been released.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Homicide Unit at 402-444-5656. Tipsters can also reach Omaha Crime Stoppers anonymously: WOWT lists 402-444-7867, while KETV gives the equivalent keypad form, 402-444-STOP.
A Decades-Old Case Nearby
Hummel Park has a dark thread running through local history. In 1984, the body of Michelle “Mickey” LaMere was found in a wooded area of the Ponca Hills neighborhood just north of the park, according to the Omaha Daily Record. That murder case sat cold for decades until Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy Colin Driscoll reopened it this year.
Driscoll told the Omaha Daily Record that DNA testing on LaMere's clothing turned up a person of interest, though he cautioned the evidence hasn't reached a prosecutable threshold. “We completed our first round of testing in May and identified somebody through DNA on her clothing. He's still listed as a person of interest, nothing prosecution-worthy at this time,” Driscoll said. There is no indication the Saturday discovery in Hummel Park is connected to the LaMere case, and investigators have not released any information tying the two.
For now, the Omaha Police Department says its investigation into Saturday's find is ongoing as detectives work to learn who the remains belonged to and how they came to rest in the park.
