Police investigate after ancient skeletal remains discovered in northern Minnesota

Ancient skeletal remains of at least three people were recently uncovered along the shores of a northern Minnesota lake, and police are investigating whether there should be criminal charges for unearthing remains in a cultural site.

Deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office responded a little after 6 p.m. on Aug. 31 to the shores of Leech Lake, after a group of wild rice farmers in Gould Township said they found human remains, the sheriff’s office said in a joint news release with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Tribal Police. The deputies found at least three individuals’ skeletal remains, and they are believed to be several hundred years old.

The Leech Lake Heritage Sites Program and the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council were contacted and the remains were secured. The specific location of the remains is not being disclosed at this time, but it was on a cultural site, the sheriff’s office and police department said in the release.

The Leech Lake Band’s police Chief Kenneth Washington said it currently seems unlikely there will be criminal charges for the people who discovered the remains. He said it’s suspected the remains were naturally unearthed over time.

“We’re thinking it was more along the lines of natural erosion that may have occurred,” he said Thursday.

Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk said, however, that the discovery by the farmers is still under investigation.

“I won’t say it’s out of the realm [of possibility]” that there could be charges for those who found the remains, Welk said.

The agencies warned that knowingly disturbing cultural sites or cemeteries can have criminal or civil repercussions, and urged the public to not disturb the area and contact police if they encounter suspected human remains.

“In doing so, this ensures vital evidence is preserved, along with being respectful of those who were here before us,” the release states.