Police responded Monday afternoon to a report of remains being found in an unmarked grave at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2.
Police responded Monday afternoon to a report of remains being found in an unmarked grave at East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery No. 2.
At about 2 p.m. Monday, a police dispatcher reported that county workers had discovered a bag of bones in a grave they were digging for a Tuesday burial service.
At the site, police cordoned off the area, located on the southern end of the cemetery, as they questioned three men who appeared to have been digging the hole. One of the men described to an officer how he had been digging with a backhoe when he saw something in the hole.
“I go to pick ‘em up and bring ‘em out, and they fall apart,” he said.
A small pile of what appeared to be bone fragments, including what looked like the top of a skull, could be seen at the men’s feet near the edge of the freshly dug grave.
A police officer at the scene said he had just arrived and could not answer any questions. Calls to the Hawaii County Police Department seeking more information had not yet been returned by 3:30 p.m.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.