Police recently interrupted an online sale of a coffin to question the man who was selling it. The coffin had an entire human skeleton inside it.
According to an article recently posted on the Fox News website, Dave Burgstrum placed an ad on the popular classified ad website Craigslist in the name of the Council Bluffs chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows to raise money for the organization's property taxes for the building.
The International Order of Odd Fellows is a nonprofit organization that promotes anonymous monetary gifts to the poor people in Council Bluffs and cities nearby.
The only problem with the coffin was that it included a complete human skeleton inside the coffin, which the seller neglected to mention. The police seized the bones and questioned Burgstrum about it.
According to Burgstrum, the coffin is over a century old. He knew about the bones, which had been in the coffin for many years as the group used it in different rituals, etc. He also stated the the skeleton was donated by a doctor when he retired from his practice in the 1880s.
There is no identification included that tell where the remains actually came from, so they had to be seized and investigated. The skeleton was transferred to the state medical examiner for possible identification.
Even though the actual identity of the remains will not likely be determined, certain features of the skeleton can be obtained that may influence where the remains will be transferred.
Burgstrum was not deterred by the confiscation and questioning. He did not protest to the skeleton being kept, and stated that his intention was only to sell the coffin the entire time to raise the money for the property taxes. He was allowed to continue the sale of the coffin after the remains were confiscated.
The price listed on the coffin was $12,000.
According to an article recently posted on the Fox News website, Dave Burgstrum placed an ad on the popular classified ad website Craigslist in the name of the Council Bluffs chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows to raise money for the organization's property taxes for the building.
The International Order of Odd Fellows is a nonprofit organization that promotes anonymous monetary gifts to the poor people in Council Bluffs and cities nearby.
The only problem with the coffin was that it included a complete human skeleton inside the coffin, which the seller neglected to mention. The police seized the bones and questioned Burgstrum about it.
According to Burgstrum, the coffin is over a century old. He knew about the bones, which had been in the coffin for many years as the group used it in different rituals, etc. He also stated the the skeleton was donated by a doctor when he retired from his practice in the 1880s.
There is no identification included that tell where the remains actually came from, so they had to be seized and investigated. The skeleton was transferred to the state medical examiner for possible identification.
Even though the actual identity of the remains will not likely be determined, certain features of the skeleton can be obtained that may influence where the remains will be transferred.
Burgstrum was not deterred by the confiscation and questioning. He did not protest to the skeleton being kept, and stated that his intention was only to sell the coffin the entire time to raise the money for the property taxes. He was allowed to continue the sale of the coffin after the remains were confiscated.
The price listed on the coffin was $12,000.
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