Police: Children find human bones while playing near Reedsburg cemetery

REEDSBURG, Wis. (WISC) -- Two Reedsburg children brought home what appeared to be a fragment of a very old human skull that they found while playing in the woods behind Greenwood Cemetery Saturday evening, the Reedsburg Police Department said in a news release.

The release said the children’s parents called the police at 5:15 p.m.

According to police, the children led officers to a small pile of dirt on the Greenwood Cemetery property where they had found the bones.

Police said in the release that the site was used by the cemetery to store dirt taken from more recent gravesite excavations. Older, unmarked sites can be unintentionally disturbed when new sites are excavated.

The bones most likely came from an unmarked gravesite dating back to the mid- to late 1800s when the cemetery first opened, according to the release.

Authorities said Reedsburg police are working with the Sauk County Coroner’s Office and the UW-Madison Anthropology Department to evaluate that fragments, which are estimated to be 80 to 100 years old.

Officers searched the area Sunday afternoon for any additional bones.