A human skull attached to a dumbbell with a padlock was found in a New Orleans, Louisiana, waterway by a magnet fisherman, leaving investigators with lots of questions.
A man using a magnet the size of a hockey puck and a rope made the disturbing discovery May 18 off the Bayou St. John Bridge, pulling up a 15-pound dumbbell “padlocked around a human skull” which was “fully decomposed, lacking a jaw or the top row of teeth,” according to a police report obtained by Nola.com.
The magnet fisherman also pulled a handgun and a gun barrel from the water that day. It is unclear if they are related to the skull.
The fisherman, whose name has not been published, flagged down a police officer, who took the items in for an investigation.
The coroner did not say whether the skull has been identified; a spokesperson told the local outlet that it could take months to name the victim.
Since the skull’s discovery, police have organized a dive team and cadaver dogs to continue searching the water and shoreline in that area. They are also seeking tips from the public.
Back in 2018, kayakers found the skull of a missing New Orleans woman in a marsh, a CBS News affiliate reported.