Two people visiting an Oakland apartment complex discovered the decaying head and brought it to police.
Two visitors to an Oakland, California, apartment complex discovered a decomposing human head in the backyard and took it to the police department, authorities said, in what police initially thought was a Halloween prank.
Investigators are trying to determine if the gruesome find belongs to a headless corpse recently found in the same area.
“Today, a couple individuals located a human skull in the backyard of the residence and thought it was a good idea to transport it down to the police station,” Oakland police Sgt. Michael Cardoza told reporters Friday.
After the head was turned in, officers went to the apartment building and searched the premises.
“We conducted interviews with all of the residents and determined that at this time, it didn’t appear that they were involved,” Cardoza said.
The head was decaying, police said, and investigators are comparing it to the corpse found in late September. “In that separate investigation, the body appeared to be deeply decomposed, almost mummified,” Cardoza said.
A resident near the complex told The San Francisco Chronicle there were always people loitering in the neighborhood, some of whom jump a fence surrounding the apartments.
Across the East Bay, San Francisco authorities are investigating the death of 65-year-old Brian Egg, whose headless body was found rotting inside a fish tank. Two arrests have been made in connection with that death and Oakland officers have been in contact with homicide detectives there.
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