Skull and bones found in old shack are hundreds of years old

BRANTFORD Bones found in an old garden shack have finally been dated, but that has just deepened the mystery of how they wound up there.

Brantford police said Friday the skull and bones of a child found in the shack in downtown Brantford during the summer of 2009 are at least 350 years old.

Inspector Kent Potruff said a portion of the bones were sent to a laboratory in the United States where Carbon 14 tests were conducted. This determined the bones are from the mid-1400s to the mid-1600s.

Investigators have not been able to determine how or when the bones came to be in the shack at Henrietta and William streets, but Potruff said detectives did learn that a doctor’s office had been located next to the property.

Neighbours were at first fearful, but then just plain curious, about the discovery after they learned the bones were not suspected of being from a homicide victim. The age of the bones now heightens that curiosity.

“We were all mystified,” said Barb O’Reilly, 79, who lives two doors down from the site.

“Nobody knows. I think we will be wondering how they got there. I think everybody would want to know.”

Police previously said the bones were consistent with a child between the ages of five and 10, but O’Reilly said she had heard authorities believe the girl was eight.

“It’s surprising,” said another neighbour, a 59-year-old man who did not want to give his name. “It’s strange, I’ll say that.”

The bones and skull were found by a contractor while he and others were tearing the shack down on June 3, 2009. The skull fell from the rafters at the feet of the contractor and he later found other bones underneath some floor boards in the shed.