Skeletal remains typically used in teaching likely found behind waterfront home in Stuart

STUART − Human skeletal remains found Wednesday behind a home on Southeast Riverside Drive appear to be “a medical-grade specimen which is typically used for teaching purposes,” a police spokesperson said.

Stuart Police Chief Joseph Tumminelli said police early Wednesday were called to the home in the 1400 block of Southeast Riverside Drive, which is north of Southeast Ocean Boulevard and east of the downtown area. Construction workers excavating the ground at the waterfront home discovered the remains.

Lt. David Duran, police spokesperson, said Thursday police contacted Heather Walsh-Haney and her team from Florida Gulf Coast University.

“She is an expert in the field and she found that the skeletal remains appear to be an anatomically correct medical-grade specimen which is typically used for teaching purposes,” Duran said.

He likened it to a person who donates their body to science.

Walsh-Haney, a board certified forensic anthropologist and chair of the Department of Justice Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, said her staff, graduate students and a visiting forensic pathologist and anthropologist from Sri Lanka arrived with forensic archaeology equipment.

“These remains were partially discovered during the excavation for a pool,” Walsh-Haney said.

Walsh-Haney said she could not discuss the specifics of the case, but said representatives from a variety of agencies, including the medical examiner’s office, were there. She did not discuss how she knew the remains were a medical-grade specimen.

Statutes guide the sale of human remains that go through the donation process, she said.

“Typically, medical supply houses sell to universities, or you have to establish yourself as a laboratory that would be in need of human remains donations,” Walsh-Haney said. “If you're a teacher or a professor, and you teach a science class, there are medical supply houses where you can find skeletal remains, and they make you prove that you'd be using these human remains for educational purposes.”

She said there are published articles regarding how retired medical doctors and medical schools take care of donated human remains once there no longer is a medical school or the person who purchased it passes away.

At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, for example, remains used in education are cremated. If cremation is not desired, the remains can be turned over to a funeral home for alternative disposition methods that the family specifies, such as burial, according to the school's website

“It's not unheard of for forensic anthropologists to be called out on cases where the remains are a legally purchased human remains donation that was not managed properly,” Walsh-Haney said. “We want doctors and forensic anthropologists and nurses to be trained off of donors so that they're ready to save lives or help in forensic cases, and so the management of those remains is very important.”

Janie DuBois, office manager of the District 19 Medical Examiner’s Office, which covers Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, said Friday the remains are at the medical examiner’s office for further investigation.

Duran, asked whether a crime occurred, said, “There's no speculation on that. They're still doing the investigation to find out how the remains got here.”

“The circumstances surrounding how the donor ended up in the resident’s backyard remain unknown, and speculation will be avoided,” Duran said. “A thorough investigation is ongoing.”

A Martin County Sheriff’s Office crime scene van was there Thursday as was a vehicle marked Florida Gulf Coast University College of Arts & Sciences Human Identity & Trauma Analysis and another with a forensic anthropology notation.

Jane Hooks lives next door. On Wednesday, she said her neighbors are building a large pool with a hot tub and a sunken fire pit in the back yard. She said digging activities relating to the pool were going on.

Pool-related death: Sheriff's officials investigate after 3-year-old dies

Deadly crash: Pregnant woman, 2 unborn babies die after crash in Martin County

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com .

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Skeletal remains typically used in teaching likely found behind waterfront home in Stuart