Skeletal remains returned to B.C. coroner

A rock climber in Squamish, B.C., thought he’d found a pretty interesting artifact while climbing the Stawamus Chief last week.

He had no idea.

The man was shocked to learn that the B.C. Coroners Service issued a public appeal earlier this week for the return of the missing piece of what could be skeletal human remains.

“They just didn’t know what they had,” said Barb McLintock, spokeswoman for the coroners service, which announced Friday that the remains had been turned over.

Someone contacted authorities on Feb. 27 to report that they’d found the remains on a remote ledge on the famed climbing wall near Squamish, B.C.

The coroner, Squamish Search and Rescue and local RCMP organized a recovery expedition on Feb. 28.

When they arrived, they found that at some time between the afternoon of Feb. 26 and noon on Feb. 28, someone had removed a piece of the remains.

The girlfriend of the climber who picked up the remains saw a public appeal from the coroners’ office on Monday.

“When the girlfriend saw the news… she said, ‘I think maybe your interesting artifact is more interesting than you thought,’” McLintock told Yahoo Canada News.

The piece removed from the site was not a skull and was not immediately recognizable as human, she said.

The man returned the remains Wednesday. They were sent to the coroner’s Identification and Disaster Response Unit.

“We’re not even 100 per cent certain they’re human,” McLintock said, adding that the coroner does not believe they’re ancient remains but that, too, has yet to be determined.

The removal of the remains was “entirely innocent with no malicious intent,” a statement from the coroners service said.

It happens more often than people think.

“The bones of bear paws look very much like human hands when you have only skeletal remains,” McLintock said. “We’ve had those.”

Archeological remains also surface from time to time and should be reported to authorities.

“If they do turn out to be archeological… First Nations are very appreciative to get back those remains,” McLintock said.

The provincial government introduced legislation this week to amend the Coroners Act and make it illegal to disturb or remove skeletal remains.

Once the amendment passes, it will be law that — like bodies — remains are to be left in place for examination by a coroner.

The coroners service reminded back country users that if they find bones or other potential human remains, they should leave everything in place, take a photo if possible, note the location with GPS if possible, and inform RCMP or the coroner.