By Canon King
On Thursday afternoon, Dec. 15, while transporting salt, one worker at the McEwen Department of Transportation (TDOT) site discovered what looked to be a “dark rock,” later being identified as a human heart.
After receiving a call about the discovery, the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office sent the organ off to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for testing. It was confirmed to be the heart of an adult human male.
The TDOT site was shut down and turned into a crime scene. HCSO and TBI officers worked to filter out the salt from the barn by dumping it into a truck with two screens over it to confirm if any other human remains were present in the piles. No other remains were found.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for 32 years and I have to say this is probably one of the top five most bizarre things I’ve ever seen,” said HCSO Sheriff Chris Davis. “At this time, we don’t feel that anybody’s safety is in question. It appeared to have been here for some time. Salt has a drying effect on the body similar to how it would on a country ham. I hate to use that as a reference but imagine that this is what it is.”
DNA testing currently is being done on the heart in an attempt to learn the identity of the deceased. Although not many clues for the crime exist, it was said that the heart had been cut out with “medical precision,” meaning that whoever had removed the heart knew what they were doing.
In a statement released the same day, TBI noted that at the request of 23rd Judicial District Attorney General Ray Crouch, TBI special agents are working with HCSO deputies in investigating the discovery of the heart. This remains an active and ongoing investigation for TBI.
