Police are investigating the discovery of several caskets, a skull and marble slabs underneath the playground of a North Philadelphia school.
Investigators say workers with the water department were excavating the playground behind the William Dicks Elementary School on the 2400 block of Diamond Street shortly after 2 p.m. As they were digging, investigators say they unearthed several wooden caskets with headstones and that one of them belonged to a child.
According to sources, the workers began digging on Tuesday and originally thought they were hitting wood and debris rather than caskets.
Engineers who surveyed the area say it was a gravesite back in the 1900s that was paved over. NBC10 also found records showing that the site was the home of the Odd Fellows Cemetery established in 1849 and destroyed in the 1950s.
"This was all a cemetery," said Ronell Reyes, who lives near the site. "I don't remember if they removed all of the bodies. That is proper protocol, but obviously not."
"We don't know what really happened back then," said Donovan Herrig, who also lives near the site. "Maybe somebody was rushing the whole process or they were like, 'I'm sick and tired of this! I'm not taking anymore bodies. We can leave the rest of them here and hopefully nobody finds them.'"
The Historical Society will examine the property Thursday morning. Police are holding the scene until then.
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Photo Credit: NBC10.com