A container full of human heads has been stolen from a truck in Denver, police have said as they launch a search for the missing body parts.
The gruesome burglary unfolded on Thursday morning, March 2, when someone broke into a medical truck and made off with a dolly cart and a box containing a number of human heads, which were being transported for medical research.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, the box in question was a blue and white container marked 'Science Care,' referring to the medical programme which allows patients to donate their own organs and body parts in order to help with medical research and trials.
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It's not immediately clear how many people were involved in the robbery, and KDVR/KWGN reports that Denver Police could not confirm whether the suspect, or suspects, were aware that the truck was a medical vehicle, or that the box had human remains inside it.
'[It's] pretty shocking. I guess I don’t see too many strange things happening around here usually, but you know you never know,' said one local resident of the quiet neighbourhood where the robbery occurred.
The resident added that his wife works at the University of Colorado, where researchers used cadavers, and so assumed the heads had been being transported for a similar purpose.
Denver Police are yet to make any arrests or name any suspects in connection with the incident.
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Incredibly, it's not the first time police have been forced to look into the circumstances surrounding a box of human heads in Denver.
In 1986, police were called after a box containing 12 heads bound for the city was mistakenly opened by shipping company workers.
On that occasion, it was determined the heads were illegally shipped by a Philadelphia-based ear, nose and throat specialist who obtained them from cadavers used in medical school anatomy classes, AP reported at the time.
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'It’s not like finding your toothbrush on the floor,' one of the workers said. 'One of the employees was a young college student, and it made her sick to think about it.'
Anyone with information about the recent robbery is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-STOP (7867).
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Hannah Smith