Human Skull Donated to Texas Goodwill Store

Police are trying to find the person who donated it.

ByABC News
August 30, 2014, 11:26 AM

— -- Police in Austin, Texas, are investigating an unusual donation to a local Goodwill store: a human skull.

While odd, police do not believe the skull was the result of a crime. Instead, they told ABC News affiliate KVUE-TV that they believe the skull may have been part of someone's private collection.

“We think it was probably something that belonged to the person who donated it, to a relative of the person who donated it and it was part of a collection or an anatomical model,” said Austin police detective Derek Israel. “It could have been something that was kept by someone who was a student of anthropology, a student of medicine, dentistry, any of those things.”

Police are looking to talk to whoever donated the item last month. Similar skulls are often used in medical settings or medical schools.

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The Travis County Medical Examiner’s office has determined the skull is from an adult who likely died two years ago, according to KVUE-TV. Other information about the skull, including sex or race, wasn't released.

Although unusual, the donation has not fazed everyone at the Goodwill store.

“We have gotten prosthetic limbs. We have gotten Rolex watches. We have gotten Krugerrands," Traci Berry, who works at the store, told KVUE. "Our donations run the gamut."