Bone found in barrel off beach was from an animal

WEST OCEAN CITY — Officials say a bone recovered from a deteriorating barrel in the sand off a Maryland beach was from an animal.

The Worcester County Sheriff tweeted Thursday that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined it was an animal bone that was recovered from the barrel, not human remains.

On Tuesday, a couple wading in the water off Homer Gudelsky Park in West Ocean City stumbled across what they thought was a suitcase, but was later found to be a wooden barrel. Divers later recovered the contents of the barrel, including a burned bone.

News outlets report the barrel was deteriorating so quickly, the sheriff’s office decided to dig out the contents instead of removing the barrel from the water.