Elena Gocmen Rueda
IT was during a short walk with her dog before taking the kids to school that an expat got the shock of her life.
The Romanian woman, who asked not to be named, found a human skull lying beside a car park, near Orgiva.
Dug up by her dog Dragon, not long after 8am on November 18, she immediately knew it was human… and believed it might be linked to the Spanish Civil War.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before and I knew straight away I needed to call the police,” she told the Olive Press.
Within minutes the father of her daughter had contacted the Guardia Civil, who were quickly on the scene, near the village of Canar, in the Alpujarras.
The mother-of-two, who has lived in Spain for 11 years, had picked up the skull and put it in a plastic bag for the police to take with them.
“I took it off Dragon to stop him from eating or playing with it. It really smelt a lot,” she added.
“I realised then that it couldn’t be from the civil war.”
Police from Orgiva turned up and, after taking the bag for safe storage, went with her to visit the macabre site, which sits just outside the alternative community of Beneficio.
They looked around and, according to the expat, found no further bones or remains.
There was no sign of clothes or any other personal items.
Dragon, a German Shepherd cross, failed to find anything else.
This week, a spokesman for the Guardia Civil in Granada city, confirmed the finding to the Olive Press.
Spokesman Juan Carlos said they continue to investigate the finding, but would not speculate on the identity of the skull at this stage.
“We firstly contacted the courts so that a forensic expert could take charge of the remains,” he said.
“The Judicial Police have taken over the investigation and it has now been taken to a laboratory in Sevilla to study”.
There is speculation that the head is of a man in his 40s who went missing a few years ago.
The Olive Press also continues to investigate whether it may be of a Dutch woman who lived in the community two years ago.
More to follow.
READ MORE:
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