San Juan Bautista
– A city worker repairing a water main on Third Street in front
of San Benito Bank uncovered what appeared to be fragments of human
bone Thursday, according to the San Benito County Sheriff’s
Office.
San Juan Bautista – A city worker repairing a water main on Third Street in front of San Benito Bank uncovered what appeared to be fragments of human bone Thursday, according to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.
Construction was halted and the sheriff’s office was called in to handle the remains. Detective John Peña responded to the corner of Third Street and Mariposa Street last Thursday to find a bone fragment approximately 3 inches long and 3/4 of an inch wide along with pieces of pottery above the water main.
Sgt. Tom Keylon said the sheriff’s office then called in an anthropologist to determine the origin of the remains.
“All we know is they were human bones,” Sgt. Keylon said.
The archeologist was unable to determine an ethnic identification, but said the bones were very old. Detective Peña barricaded the area to create a dig site.
Detective Peña then called the California Native American Heritage Commission in Sacramento, but the commission told the sheriff’s office it was uninterested unless they were able to definitively prove the remains were those of a Native American.
California Health and Safety code requires a county coroner to make a report if human remains are disturbed outside of a dedicated cemetery to determine if there had been a crime or if the remains could be those of a Native American. The coroner then has 24 hours to contact the California Native American Heritage Commission if he determines that the remains are not subject to his authority and recognizes the remains to be those of a Native American.
“They weren’t identifiable as Native American,” Sgt. Peña said.
The sheriff’s office replaced the bones after the water main repair was completed and reburied the remains at the request of the California Native American Heritage Commission. Sgt. Keylon said some people called the sheriff’s office under the impression that an entire skeletal system was uncovered.
San Benito Bank in San Juan was previously the site of Don Jose Maria Bravo Adobe, built in 1849 and razed by fire in 1867, according to a bank sign.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 637-5566 ext. 335, or
mv*********@fr***********.com
.
