Mummified human skeletal remains confiscated from the home of a woman who police say was trying to sell them on eBay likely came from a Scottish collection, authorities said.
Police said on Friday they have closed their investigation into the remains and do not plan to request criminal charges. The remains had been confiscated on October 10 after being spotted on the internet auction website.
A Michigan State University anthropologist determined that the remains likely date from the early 19th century and were part of a collection of anatomical specimens from anatomist Allen Burns, the Times Herald reported.
The collection has been housed at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The remains are from a child, probably between the ages of six and nine, Norman Sauer, an anthropology professor, told police in an e-mail.
”The medical mummy is clearly an important historical specimen and should be returned to the Burns collection,” Sauer wrote.
Lynn Sterling, of Port Huron, told police she obtained the remains from a friend who works in demolition and who said he found them in a Detroit school he helped demolish about 30 years ago.
Sterling said she was excited to hear about the origins of the remains. ”It’s been an interesting journey,” she said.
The listing was removed from eBay on October 11 because it violated a policy against selling human remains, eBay has said. The web site allows the sale of skeletons for medical use, but not mummified remains. — Sapa-AP