By Roger Lanse

Grant County Sheriff's deputies responded to a request officer call on Monday, Dec. 7, about 10:45 a.m. at the Rio de Arenas trailer park. When deputies arrived, a man told them that he was weed-whacking in the front yard of a trailer space when he found a skull in a trash bag near the apple tree. GCSD Lt. Fermin Lopez told the Beat that the skull had been turned over to Office of Medical Investigation personnel.

An OMI official explained that the skull was indeed human and was inside a white trash bag, which was inside a cloth reuseable bag hidden in the tall weeds when the man found it.

According to OMI, the yard where the skull was found was in front of a mobile home that had been vacant for about three months. The OMI official also told the Beat that the skull had been painted black and the color of bone where paint was missing showed signs of both old and recent age, which was unusual.

The skull was sent to OMI in Albuquerque for further analysis.