A child-size casket with a bag of organs inside, but no body, was found on a North Philadelphia sidewalk Monday night.

The discovery was made about 9 p.m. on the 3100 block of West Clearfield Street across from Mount Vernon Cemetery.

Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told CBS3: “According to the medical examiner, [they] were in fact human organs. They believed they belonged to an infant or a child. What’s unusual is inside the coffin, other than the bag of organs, there was no body.”

Police believe the coffin may have been taken from a funeral home or possibly dug up from a fresh grave.

The casket had recently been pried open, according to police.

Small said police are investigating. “There have been cases where people take remains or human bodies for whatever unusual reasons they decide, but we’re going to look into that,” he said.

Chris James, 25, of North Philadelphia, said in a phone interview Tuesday that he was at a gas station nearby when other people discovered the casket and called 911. He went to look. It was a “small casket wrapped in a trash bag,” he said.

When officers arrived, James said, they opened the small, white casket. “At first, they thought it was a false alarm,” he said. Then, inside, there was a black plastic bag, which had dirt in it and “something organic,” he said.

“It did look like organs,” said James.

Source: Fox News