Bones found at Marina

YORK COUNTY, Va. - The mini-mystery at Mills Marina began last Wednesday. A man checking on his boat spotted bones at low tide laying alongside the pier.

"He wasn't sure if it was animal bones or human bones. He went home and thought about it," says Sergeant Dennis Ivy.

Ivy says he thought about it until 10:30 Monday morning, then called. Investigators tapped into their partnership with the fire department and divers entered the water to take pictures.

"We're hoping for the best. We're hoping of course it's animal bones, but we're not going to take a chance. We'll be sending them to the lab to determine exactly what the bones are."

Since the bones were resting in 4-5 feet of water, getting a good look required some ingenuity. So, firefighters built a coffer dam.

An effort Ivy says was worth it. They didn't want to take the chance the bones may have been from "somebody's loved or a human being that had been disposed of."

Just before 6 p.m., investigators determined the bones belonged to an animal.