Children playing in Ardmore creek find human skull

rjackson@opubco.com

Published: October 10, 2008

ARDMORE — Children playing in a neighborhood creek found a human skull Thursday night, presenting state and local investigators with a challenging mystery.

"When I first heard about the skull, I thought it probably had something to do with Halloween -- maybe a prank or something," said Ardmore Police Capt. Ed Hardwood. "But then we heard, no, it's real.

"I started thinking about missing persons. Nothing struck me."

Ardmore detectives scoured the brush of the creek bed Friday morning in search of additional clues. Yet no further evidence has surfaced.

Medical examiners, meanwhile, began studying the skull, and state medical examiner spokeswoman Cherokee Ballard described it as having no teeth or signs of blunt force trauma.

"Our initial examinations indicate this might be a white male, based on the eye sockets and bone structure," Ballard said. "We also found dried mud, indicating the skull had possibly been buried for days or months."

Or longer.

Forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow will be called in for further analysis, Ballard said. Snow might be able to provide a better determination of the skull's age. Examiners also ordered an X-ray to see if any evidence is hidden within the skull.

"This isn't that common, but not unusual, either," Ballard said. "These kinds of cases usually come into our office 10 to 12 times a year, although not all of them turn out to be human remains."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Ardmore Police Department at (580) 223-1212.

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