Skull Leads Authorities to More Remains in NE

A human skull with a blue baseball cap still perched on it was found in a wooded area near Catholic University, and D.C. police said they discovered what they think is the rest of the body nearby.

An unidentified man, who police say is homeless, came across the skull about 6 p.m. Monday night, authorities said. He had it in a plastic CVS bag and was showing it off to people in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven in the 300 block of Hawaii Avenue NE, according to police and witnesses.

Bystanders who saw the skull encouraged the man to call police, according to Mialke Stewart, 20, who said he was in the parking lot at the time.

Ignoring the advice, the man dropped the skull into a dumpster and walked away, according to Stewart, who called police to retrieve the gruesome find.

D.C. investigators brought in cadaver dogs to try to locate the rest of the remains. One dog led police yesterday up a wooded hill about 125 feet from the street, not far from the 7-Eleven.

There, next to a Catholic University softball field, were bones and clothing, said Lt. William Farr of the homicide unit. Nearby was a rope, suggesting to investigators that the victim might have committed suicide, Farr said. They did not find a suicide note.

The victim, believed to be an adult male, might have died months ago, Farr said.

The D.C. medical examiner's office is conducting tests to determine whether the skull and bones match. Farr said he is "fairly certain" they will.

Authorities will then try to identify the victim, he said. The remains do not match descriptions of any missing person reported to police, he said.

Detectives are looking in homeless shelters and homeless camps for the man who brought the skull to the 7-Eleven parking lot. Police say he hangs out in that area and is known as Tony.

"We just want to talk to him," Farr said.

Outside the 7-Eleven, after police found the skeletal remains yesterday, Stewart described Monday night's events as haunting.

"We were asking him: 'Why do you have a head in a bag?' " Stewart said. "He was acting like he found something he didn't want to find."

Then Stewart paused and glanced at the green dumpster.

"It's enough to turn my stomach," he said.