A HUMAN SKELETON is found in an abandoned building at UC Berkeley that hasn’t been used in “many years,” and police say there are no missing person reports that could help them identify the remains
- A human skeleton was found in an abandoned building on the UC Berkeley campus
- It is not known how long it has been there – there are no open missing persons cases
- The skeleton was found on the university’s Clark Kerr residential campus
- It can take anywhere from two weeks to two years for a body to fully decompose
A human skeleton has been discovered in a disused building on the UC Berkeley campus.
The “skeletonized” remains were found Tuesday in a building on the university’s Clark Kerr campus that had not been used “for many years,” university police said.
It’s not yet clear how long the remains were there or if they were male or female, but officials said more information would be made available after an autopsy.
Police confirmed there are no open reports of missing persons from the “campus community.”
A human skeleton was discovered in Building 21 on the UC Berkeley campus. The graffiti-covered building has stood unused for “many years.”
It’s not yet clear how long the remains were there or if they were male or female, campus police said
The remains were found in Building 21 on January 10, and the students were alerted three days later, on January 13.
Skeletonization is the final stage of decomposition of a human body. A number of factors such as temperature and humidity will drastically alter the length of time it takes to reach this stage, but it can take anywhere from two weeks to two years after death, according to Scientific American.
A man who was working in the area at the time of the discovery told the KTVU that there was a significant police presence in the area.
“We saw a lot of police activity. There was a construction site. They were like they were demonstrating everything from this building and all of a sudden they just stopped. The next day we saw the coroner coming. A lot of police activity,’ he said.
The mainly residential campus consists primarily of student accommodation, but is also home to a swimming pool, among other sports facilities
A man who was working in the area during Tuesday’s discovery told the KTVU that there was a significant police presence in the area
He suggested the discovery was not surprising as homeless people are known to have taken refuge in the derelict building, which is currently covered in graffiti.
“That doesn’t surprise me that much. There’s a lot of homeless activity here, so it was an abandoned building, so I thought something like that probably happened,” he added.
The Clark Kerr campus consists primarily of student accommodation, but is also home to a swimming pool, among other sports facilities.
The Clark Kerr campus (highlighted in yellow) is one mile southeast of the university’s main campus
An autopsy will be performed and more information will be released, officials said
Clark Kerr’s campus residences are designed in the “Spanish Mission” style and provide student access to scenic hiking trails in the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve.
“We understand that there are many questions and anticipate that the coroner’s report will provide additional information,” police said.
‘We do not anticipate that this investigation will disrupt the activities of residents of the Clark Kerr campus.’
The Alameda County Coroner’s Office is investigating.