In the year 1980, on an ordinary day in Lemon Grove, California, a woman decided to tidy up her garage and stumbled upon a peculiar cardboard box. Curiosity got the better of her, and she cautiously opened it, only to be taken aback by the sight of a mummified young girl and an infant nestled inside…
Unearthing the Unexpected: A Startling Discovery in a California Garage
Fear-stricken, the woman swiftly dialed the authorities. The Lemon Grove police arrived at the scene, expecting a murder investigation. However, they soon uncovered an entirely different mystery.
The two bodies found in the California garage appeared to be victims of a homicide, but in reality, they had perished centuries ago.
Further research revealed that the mummified remains of the woman were that of a young girl who had died at the age of 15, and the infant was approximately one year old.
The bodies were remarkably well-preserved – the girl’s hair still clung to her head, while the baby’s ears and nose remained intact. The dry, cold desert air likely desiccated the bodies, preventing bacterial growth and decomposition.
Unraveling the Fate of the Lemon Grove Mummies
According to researchers, the curled-up and closely clustered mummies suggest that they may have pᴀssed away while sleeping. However, the exact cause of death remains undetermined.
Carbon dating placed the mummies’ deaths between the years 1040 and 1260 AD.
Nevertheless, the details surrounding how and when these two mummies ended up in a California garage remain hazy.
The police embarked on a quest to unravel the clues, striving to decode the enigma of the Lemon Grove mummies.
Not long after, they came across a lead. In 1966, 14 years prior to the mummies’ discovery in the garage, two young men from California shared a deep fascination with mummies and archaeology.
Rumors circulated that indigenous tribes in northern Mexico had a tradition of burying the deceased in caves, where the bodies would naturally mummify due to the dry, cold air. Intrigued, the two California men embarked on a journey to Chihuahua, Mexico, spending over a month exploring the caves.
Their efforts paid off. Inside one of the caves, they not only found one but two mummified bodies. The two American men successfully smuggled the aforementioned mummies across the border into Lemon Grove, California, storing them in a friend’s garage.
With no clear plan for the mummies, the two men were drafted and sent to fight in the Vietnam War. Consequently, the mummies were forgotten in the garage for 14 years.
Upon their return from the war, the two men who had discovered the mummies sought redemption by offering them as a donation to the renowned Museum of Man in San Diego, known for its collection of mummies. However, since the mummies were not rightfully theirs, they lacked the authority to make such a donation.
The San Diego authorities reached out to Mexico to navigate the handling of the mummies. Eventually, Mexico agreed to have the mummies displayed at the Museum of Man in the United States.
The forgotten mystery of the ancient mummies found in a California garage captivated the attention of both authorities and the public. Though the true origins and the journey that brought them to Lemon Grove remained elusive, the mummies now serve as a fascinating testament to ancient burial practices and the unexpected twists of fate that can leave a forgotten relic in an unsuspecting corner of the world.
