I know this sounds kinda morbid, but they should leave it there
for Halloween. :P

this Silas Finch...what the F..this guy is doing excavating around .. it's just so..so wrong..in so many ways..I mean, beyond of really bad taste..

Anything he finds belongs to the local government who owns the park.

@Lovely: The New Haven Green is privately owned. This is why the City was not able to kick out the Occupy New Haven protestors as easily as many other cities were.

It was also used as a burial ground until the 1820s or 30s... there are rumored to be hundreds of people that are still buried there.

AC: He didn't meant any harm - one choice location for people with metal detectors is around the base of old trees because that's where kids played and its possible they dropped coins from their pockets. After 50 or 60 years though, the coins get too deep to detect/recover so I believe in this case, he saw it was upended and was poking around to see if he could find any 'buried treasure."

If you read the article, he wasn't poking around after a body was found, he was the first to find a bone!

Even before she arrived, local artist Silas Finch said he had been digging around beneath the upended tree shortly after it fell Monday night...searching for old coins but found what appeared to be a long bone instead.

"....an upside-down human skull, mouth agape, connected to a spine and rib cage."

Would skeletal remains which had been buried for many years still remain connected (mandible still connected to skull; skull still connected to spine), or wouldn't the connecting cartilage tissues have decomposed to nothing?

Something about this seems ....weird (pun intended).

Its Jimmy Hoffa.

Thought I was in the entertainment section reading about a new CSI episode.

Would skeletal remains which had been buried for many years still remain connected (mandible still connected to skull; skull still connected to spine), or wouldn't the connecting cartilage tissues have decomposed to nothing?

Tissue can preserve for a very long time if the burial conditions are favorable. In this case, however, I suspect the well-articulated skeleton is being held together by the surrounding soil.

"I think it’s a dead man trying to tell a tale"

I thought dead man don't tell tales................Well there goes that philosophy..............Black Beard's rolling in his grave about now.

In this day and age how do you have such a cool sounding article and not any pictures?! At least a pic of the cement box if you feel weird showing the skeleton. Come on! Tease!

I smell another Hoffa inquiry - someone call Geraldo quick!

There is a more detailed image here:

City officials have also taken custody of cement box found among the bones, which they will decide what to do with at a later date

If any of them had any brains they would open the box buried with the remains to see if it could possibly tell them all the answers they are looking for. The fact that they didn't even consider it as that was the first thing I thought of when I read that part baffles me.

That is a matter for professionals trained in preservation.

A giant oak tree that stood in a park since 1909 the downtown park since 1909 tipped to the ground...

Uh, NBCNews.com...how about a little editing/proofreading? Jeez!!!

Uh, NBCNews.com...how about a little editing/proofreading? Jeez!!!

Since the GOP took over NBCnews proofreading isn't a high priority. Check out the great Romney propaganda though!

The zombies are everywhere!..ho ho ho who who who

Gil-287 is right, to just open the box and expose the contents could contaminate and possibly destroy any delicate items like hand written notes. The man did the right thing, now the whole community can be a part of it and give them something to talk about.

What an appropriate story for el Dia de los Muertos.

Whenever you think the Earth has no more secrets to reveal, something like this happens. You just can't make stuff up that is as macabre as real life.

Police...do not suspect foul play...

Hum... Obviously, the tree did it.

Interesting. But it would be a better story if there was evidence of foul play, or better yet, if it solved some century-old case, such as the disappearance of a spouse.

At least it happened on Halloween.

wizard-it didn't say whether or not they opened the box, only that they have possession of it-is it not possible they opened the box, there wasn't anything useful inside, and now they are figuring out what to do with it? Cameron is also right-if it's old enough, opening the box just anywhere could damage the contents, particularly with paper items, so possibly they didn't want to risk that.

And the Monte Carlo is believed to have come from old Williamsburg.

and now they will waste thousands of dollars to find out who this is. why not just let the person rest in peace and move it to a cemetary case closed

MIKE-679507

Hoffa????

Mike you beat me to it :)

First thing that came to my mind, too!

Mike you beat me as well!

Cement box? Or cement shoe?

haha

Hey Mike and PeggyAnnR. When I saw the article I read it to my husband and said it looks like they finally found the illusive Jimmy Hoffa. LOL

I know this is a rough time for folks on and near the east coast, but I hope they treat this discovery like any other unidentified body found. Do their best to ID and go from there.

The tree been standing there since 1909 (103 years)..Hoffa missing since 1975 (37 years)...how he get under the tree?

What the hell is the big deal about Jimmy Hoffa? He was just another criminal that got whacked!!! Where he is buried, could care less. The man has been gone 37 years, get a life! This is about Hurricane Sandy and the destruction that she caused.

And A-Stupidity, dirp @ 1.7 beat both of you to it.

Wrong there James Lee..my comment here at 2.5 was posted one and a half hours before dirp comment at 1.7 post!

Read the time posted before you say something next time.

Mike277, I stand corrected.

Yes, and I think we can also rule out Hoffa.

Rules out Hoffa? What do you know that we don't?

Happily Retired, from the article:

Police, who roped off the area about 24 hours later and are holding the scene until the state medical examiner’s office arrives to retrieve the bones, do not suspect foul play, according to the Independent.

Unless the article was updated after your post, you've misread it. They're not calling it a crime scene. Just a scene. And it's standard to protect a scene until a coroner or medical examiner can collect the remains. It's not the cops' job to retrieve the body, but it is their job to protect it from passers-by until it can be collected.

It's crazy to put resources on this when it is common knowledge this was an old cemetary with bodies that were never moved (just the gravemarkers). Somebody call Spielberg, it's not too late for another Poltergeist sequel!

The article did not read "crime scene" it simply read "scene." Since it has been buried for maybe 100 years it would rule out Hoffa as he did not disappear until 1975. My guess is that since this was a burial ground that someone planted a tree over the coffin and when all the others were moved they did not realize that there was one under a tree. Depending on the records of the burial ground, it may be impossible to establish who the deceased was, and probably not a historically significant person either. I do not put too much emphasis on the cement box as grave liners, typically made of cement, have been used for many years to keep the ground from sinking in as the casket and body deteriorates and the weight of the earth, especially after a rainfall, would cause a depression for the keepers of the cemetary to fill in.

Booth! Hoffa! The real killer of Kennedy! An illegal! The dog did it!

bubba, Bigfoot or the Loc Ness monster.....or at least the guy who took the pictures.

The butler did it. The Pope's butler.

Aha ! agsmith - good thinking ! That should lead to much speculation ! I am sure there is a message in there to guard our liberties against foreign usurpers. Is that why the authorities are keeping mum ?

There-in lies the crime AGSmith, planting a tree, in Connecticut in February. As a former armchair detective, we can conclude that the 'tree planting commemorative' was a cover-up for the burial of a murder victim; perhaps, Hoffa's great-great-grandfather!

Thus,, it must be investigated as a murder. Remember, there is no statute of limitations on murders.

jk - there may be some explanation of the 'time capsule' as containing cremains of a family member but there's no mention of the size of the container in this article.

Okay, besides the fun of planting trees in the snow... let's take a step further: why plant an Oak tree for Lincoln... in the ELM CITY?

time for a best seller to be written!

The Lincoln Oak Code---Starring Tom Planks [intended] as a nutty professor called in by the Elm City investigative branch after a windy Sandy stirs up the dirt and threatens to soil the city's reputation. The root of the case stems from a mysterious upside-down screaming skull.

When interviewed, the upside-down skull refused to talk, thus enters co-star Johnny Depp as the deaf-mute psychic with a bad hairdo who can only communicate through his tattoos. The dumbo-duo then examine the tree's trunk and discovers a concrete box (the box also refuses to talk).

[ummm---somebody else can make up the rest]

lol! I was thinking "this is going to be a Bones episode next year"!

Thank you. We have a winner!

Too late, the episode with a skeleton in the uprooted tree had been already been shown in the prior season..!! call it, Life imitating Art...!!..

LOL..

I could tell you wher I WISH she was, but newsvine would delete/ban me really, really fast.

I saw this plot in an episode of New Tricks (BBC series.) It first aired on 14 May 2007 - titled "Buried Treasure".

Lifelongpackerfan said:

Where's Temperance Brennan when you need her???

Actually, considering the age of the remains, Kathy Reichs (the author of the Tempe Brennan books and the producer of the show) may be asked to take a look at it--she's one of the foremost forensic anthropologists on the East Coast and consults for the Canadian authorities in Montreal so it's not outside the realm of possibility. She may have seen this already and might ask to see the remains out of curiosity and I can't see anyone denying her the privilege. (If not her, then it would be another forensic anthropologist like her.)

And then yeah, depending on what is found, it would make a cool 'Temperance Brennan' novel or an episode of the show.

Robert Duckworth said:

I could tell you where I WISH she was, but newsvine would delete/ban me really, really fast.

I know exactly what you mean!! Even though I usually go for blondes, she's very attractive. (and no, my husband does not have a problem with a wife who is bi.)

You son of a bitch! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn't you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! You-only-moved-the-headstones! Lies! Lies!

- Poltergeist

Shove your Republican comment Dnon person. You cant stay on subject? Take some adderal and find another set of posts to talk stupid on.

Just have some fun and leave politics out of this one......the comments (other than the stab at repubs) have been great so far. Way to ruin it.

Yes, very fun. I clicked on this article like I do all these days, just counting the comments before someone made it political........and I was not disappointed. dnon (above) takes the grand prize title of "bummer" for this one. Otherwise, the variety of explanations has been great fun.

Sorry Geraldo, it's not a safe so move along.

The Mrs. "Why is Grant's Tomb in New York?"

The Mr. "Because that's where he's buried"

[just a little off-topic]

It is a strange story. If they buried a concrete time capsule under this dedicated tree, which is possible, How could they not have noticed a body there from the old cemetery?

Will be interesting to hear more about this in the future and does warrant investigation.

@ johnbarker: I would imagine because a tree, nor a time capsule, is usually buried as deep as a coffin is at at least 6 feet. Two feet max on a small tree, with time capsule under the root ball.

However, I didn't realize that time capsules were popular at the turn of the 20th century. I thought they became a fad mid-century. The only thing from that time that could have been considered a time capsule was the corner-stones from certain buildings, which sometimes contained articles of personal importance to the builders or owners of the building, but nothing traditionally 'time capsule-ish.'

Upon researching this a bit further, I find that 1937 was the year "time capsules" made their debut, and they were quite large, the 1st ones, not the size of something that would have been buried during a commemorative tree planting, especially in 1906.

So what's in the box?

nnpaddywhack, I agree. They should definitely look inside that box.

It's hard to tell how deep the roots of this tree went but the bones where definitely deep inside and not obvious at first. There are more pictures here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/skeleton_found_in_upended_tree_on_green/

Part of the investigation should include determining how deep the bones were when it was surrounded by the roots. More than likely it was remains from the cemetery and nothing sinister, but since they were found it has to be investigated. It will be interesting to hear what they come up with. These could be the bones of an early colonial settler.

@John: I looked at the pictures, and the skull has a full set of teeth. This would indicate an older child or young adult. The Independent article also said that there had been a sort of mass grave of smallpox victims on the green at one time in the long-ago; families just left their deceased there without any sort of ceremony or marker, due to the contagion, I suppose.

On another site, I found that there are many old cornerstones that are missing, some really important ones, too, laid by George Washington, etc. The cornerstone was a Mason 'thing', and usually contained memorabilia...papers, watches, commemoratives. A cornerstone sounds more like the kind of thing that would be described as a "cement box", so that's my guess, but I don't imagine after any time spent in the ground that there's going to be much identifiable in it. And I would suppose the local Masons would have dibs on opening it due to secrecy.

Very interesting, all of it!

I'm betting they'll find that the skeleton is female, who died giving birth, and the little box is her still-born child

Yeah, I thought that was kinda ghoulish myself. And sordid. And despicable. But you have to remember there are many, many non-producing self-labelled "artists" that are nothing more than bums, and that's what I took this person to be.

riverboy21 - What's so weird about it? Just because the state you live in is in crisis means everyone has to sit at home and cower infront of the tele? No one's allowed to go out and exhibit an iota of curiosity about the world around them after the storm?

n.n.paddywhack - Contrary to what you might believe, the value of a person isn't based on how much they can produce. There's nothing "ghoulish", "sordid", or "despicable" about being interested in what could be under an old tree.

@Lilac: I disagree. I studied art for 4 years, and I can tell you that if you don't produce, you're a bum. You can have an "artistic temperament", or say you are an artist, or wander around thinking about pieces you should create, but if you don't actually produce something, (even if it has no financial value) you're still a bum. This doesn't mean that the value of a person rests on their ability to produce (which I don't believe, btw), it just means that an artist must produce to be an 'actual' artist, and not just a bum. Get it?

And sorry: while "being interested in what could be under an old tree" is perfectly benign, the act of someone being out plundering after a disaster is still ghoulish, sordid and despicable. It would be called "grave-robbing" in my day, and especially since it was reported elsewhere that the guy did it for several hours, throwing aside a "large bone" in the process, and was friendly with the local historian who knew there were bodies still buried there. He was obviously looking for jewelry, coins or other interesting "found" objects. Like any other grave-robber does.

n.n.paddywhack - Just because you studied art doesn't make you the arbiter of what another artist "is" or "isn't." Unless you know this artist personally, you can only make assumptions about them and their intentions, at best.

Lilac, the problem I have with it is that this person is basically kicking his neighbor while they are down. Obviously their property has taken some damage and they come home to find their neighbor literally digging in their yard looking for valuables. You're right about "Just because the state you live in is in crisis means everyone has to sit at home and cower infront of the tele?" But I don't know where you got that idea since I never said it. People should be out HELPING their neighbors in this time of crisis, taking things of value from their property or sitting in front of a TV.

I meant "instead taking things of value from their property or sitting in front of a TV." in that last sentence.

riverboy21 - This didn't take place in someone's yard. It was in a park.

The article states: "A giant oak tree that stood in the downtown park since 1909 lost its footing in the powerful storm and tipped to the ground revealing human remains and what city officials believe to be some type of time capsule, tangled in its roots."

Hey Lilac...I'm entitled to my opinion, and a public posting board is exactly for that. I opined, and you attacked. You continued to attack, and furthermore, arbitrate what I "was" or "wasn't", while insulting me for, in your view, doing the same. Maybe you don't realize this, but while commenting and having opinions on news-noted persons is acceptable as per Newsvine's Terms of Service, attacks to other posters are not.

My opinion is just an opinion. If you've got a problem with other people's opinions, maybe you should stick to your church bulletin or some selfsame biased publication where the writers all agree with you.

It's just too bad Sandy didn't uproot the large chip from your shoulder, along with the tree.

n.n.paddywhack -

So when you give your "opinion" it's an "opinion" and when I give my opinion, it's an "attack?" Got it.

Also, nowhere did I insult you.

What's more, I don't know how you got the idea in your head that I belong to any "church bulletin" since I'm an atheist. Again, you're making assumptions about people, which is what actually did point out previously. You really shine a wonderful light on the content of your character by that Sandy remark.

lulz @ nnpaddywhack failure to recognize irony

www newhavenindependent org/index.php/archives/entry/skeleton_found_in_upended_tree_on_green/

Thanks for that link. It makes you wonder how often this happens and no one notices. At least now this person can get a proper re-burial instead of ending up in a wood chipper.