TN TN - MCEWEN, human heart found in salt pile - adult male - 16 Dec 2022

[MrWilliams]

Echoing others on this thread, maybe it's a medical specimen that got lost.

It reminds me of that embalmed head they found on the side of a road in western Pennsylvania over a decade ago.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Isn't it more likely this is just medical waste being improperly disposed of than the case of someone actually being murdered or such?

A mountain of road salt is one heck of a place to improperly dispose of medical waste. I mean, you'd really have to go out of your way to dump it there. I can't think of a single good reason it was located there.

 

[subaw0067]

This is probably a really dumb question, but I need to ask it anyway. Does "salt pile" refer to piled-up road salt, or what?

It looks like this. Most if not all DOT’s have several of these for salt trucks.

 

[subaw0067]

I’m speechless. Every day there is some further evidence of mankind’s depravity. I can’t think of how a mishap in disposing of medical waste would happen? In a salt pile at the trans yard?

Perhaps a vulture could have found a body and flown over and dropped it?

Where is the Tennessee body farm? I could see an animal disturbing one of those cadavers.

Too gruesome.

The cadavers at the body farm usually don’t have organs because they’ve been autopsied.

 

[Springrain]

It looks like this. Most if not all DOT’s have several of these for salt trucks.

This visual is insanely helpful, thank you!

I don't see any way it could be a medical specimen IMO. I feel like it's almost certainly foul play. I cannot see a scavenger dragging the heart into the middle of a salt pile, either.

I'm going all over the place with theories here but I'm starting to think of cannibalism lol

 

[subaw0067]

This visual is insanely helpful, thank you!

I don't see any way it could be a medical specimen IMO. I feel like it's almost certainly foul play. I cannot see a scavenger dragging the heart into the middle of a salt pile, either.

I'm going all over the place with theories here but I'm starting to think of cannibalism lol

I don’t see any evidence that points to cannibalism. There are two options; the heart was brought there by a person, or it was brought there by an animal.

 

[DS2021]

I'm wondering if the rest of the body is in that pile somewhere. Salt preserves so I don't know why someone would dump a body in a salt pile where it would obviously be found. 

 

[Springrain]

I don’t see any evidence that points to cannibalism. There are two options; the heart was brought there by a person, or it was brought there by an animal.

Yeah, I doubt it is, just where my mind went lol.

Part of me wonders if it was put there as a message/warning, but then why hide it in a salt pile? I guess because they knew someone would find it, but there's more direct ways to do that. Idk with this one.

 

[nao]

Moo...where do they get the salt from? The heart could of come from where they load salt from..moo

 

[sunshineray]

I don't normally think this way but maybe he was drugged and had his organs harvested?

That's the first thing I thought, what did some black market organ harvester throw away a bad heart? My God I can't even believe considering something like that!? But a human adult male heart was found in a DOT salt pile...?

 

[sunshineray]

Isn't it more likely this is just medical waste being improperly disposed of than the case of someone actually being murdered or such?

I'd say, since it was found in a DOT salt pile, 50/50 chance for either

 

[Springrain]

That's the first thing I thought, what did some black market organ harvester throw away a bad heart? My God I can't even believe considering something like that!? But a human adult male heart was found in a DOT salt pile...?

Good point! I wonder, did the heart have any medical conditions?

 

[sunshineray]

I’m speechless. Every day there is some further evidence of mankind’s depravity. I can’t think of how a mishap in disposing of medical waste would happen? In a salt pile at the trans yard?

Perhaps a vulture could have found a body and flown over and dropped it?

Where is the Tennessee body farm? I could see an animal disturbing one of those cadavers.

Too gruesome.

It is gruesome but I'd hope that's what it was because the other off the wall options are more terribly horrific </3

 

[IceIce9]

I'm wondering if the rest of the body is in that pile somewhere. Salt preserves so I don't know why someone would dump a body in a salt pile where it would obviously be found. 

“At first they thought it was a rock,” he said. “The process of what salt does to that, it dries it out.”

Human heart found in transportation department salt pile in Tennessee

“I’ve been on some crazy stuff, but this is by far, one of the most unusual crime scenes I’ve ever been on\.”

fox59.com

 

[DS2021]

Bodies preserved in salt for over 2,000 years

Since 1993, several bodies and body parts have been accidentally discovered in a salt mine near the village of Hamzehlu in north-western Iran. - HeritageDaily - Archaeology News

www.google.com

 

[sunshineray]

“At first they thought it was a rock,” he said. “The process of what salt does to that, it dries it out.”

Human heart found in transportation department salt pile in Tennessee

“I’ve been on some crazy stuff, but this is by far, one of the most unusual crime scenes I’ve ever been on\.”

fox59.com

So it had been in the salt long enough to dry it out. In that case, what a previous poster surmised may be true. The heart came from wherever the DOT orders the salt from

 

[LAhiker]

I don’t see any evidence that points to cannibalism. There are two options; the heart was brought there by a person, or it was brought there by an animal.

While some animals are attracted to road salt (as in salt licks), most of those animals are vegetarian and in any event are unlikely to be carrying a human heart in their mouth.

Though if salt is ever returned to the piles, an animal could have disrupted some remains and as people have suggested, the heart could've gotten mixed in with the salt.

Where does the salt come from before it's placed in the salt piles? Who has access at different stages of the process? Could this have been some weird prank by someone with access to body parts?

I assume they'll do DNA testing on the heart. Is the DNA of people who donate their bodies to science in a database somewhere? What about people whose corpses are buried in the Tennessee body farm?

JMO

 

[LAhiker]

So it had been in the salt long enough to dry it out. In that case, what a previous poster surmised may be true. The heart came from wherever the DOT orders the salt from

I wonder how long it takes for a heart to dry out when placed in salt. If one goes by this Wikihow post, it could take a long time:

How to Perform Salt Cure Taxidermy: 6 Steps (with Pictures)

Taxidermy is traditionally seen as a difficult and tedious art that takes years to perfect. However, by using simple methods of dehydration and preservation even an amateur can create simple taxidermy crafts using the salt bath process....

www.wikihow.com

JMO

 

[musicaljoke]

“At first they thought it was a rock,” he said. “The process of what salt does to that, it dries it out.”

Human heart found in transportation department salt pile in Tennessee

“I’ve been on some crazy stuff, but this is by far, one of the most unusual crime scenes I’ve ever been on\.”

fox59.com

I wonder if the DNA is still useful for identifying the victim. @othram ?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Hopefully there are cameras which authorities can review to determine if it was brought there by a person or an animal, or if it likely was already in the salt when it was delivered.