CINCINNATI — Human remains discovered inside a box in a Mt. Healthy garage on Thursday night are likely relics from the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows, a non-profit fraternal order historically rooted in England and formed in the United States in 1819, according to Vincent Demasi, chief of Mt. Healthy Police.
Mt. Healthy police said around 9:58 p.m. Thursday night, a resident overheard "juvenile voices" coming from a detached garage on Werner Avenue. When the resident entered the garage, they saw a box they believed held decomposed human remains and called police, Demasi said.
Demasi said when police questioned the owner of the garage, he told them the remains were relics from the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows.
When Cincinnati's Odd Fellows club closed their Mt. Healthy lodge, the homeowner bought the building where the group met and took home some of the contents from the hall when it was cleaned out, Demasi said. The lodge has since been torn down; a First Financial Bank now stands in its place.
The homeowner told police he then stored those contents, including the box of bones containing a human skull, in his garage.
According to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows website, the Cincinnati lodge location closed and was merged with a lodge in Canton, Ohio.
The Hamilton County Coroner's office took the box and remains for examination and identification. Mt. Healthy police are still investigating the situation.
A case listing "Unknown Bones" was referenced on the coroner's report Friday morning, but the circumstances of death were still listed as pending.
