Head-Scratcher: Human Skulls Brought Into Consignment Store
LODI (CBS13) -- Antiques, precious dolls, a lot of furniture -- things you'd expect to see at a consignment store, but they recently got a spooky delivery in and this has nothing to do with Halloween.
They pride themselves in their wide variety of collectibles at New & Again Consignment Furniture Gallery in downtown Lodi.
"People come in to shop for furniture, antiques, we call it a treasure hunt," the store's Brooke Hummel said.
But Brooke showed CBS13's Neda Iranpour a delivery that's turning heads -- two human skulls.
"You can see all the indents," she said. "It's really interesting. I've never seen the inside of a skull before.
Not many people have. Turns out one man's dad kept an adult skull and a child's skull in his garage. When dad passed away, the bones were passed on.
"I thought it was pretty crazy because they were just sitting in the box, but I just pick it up and move it," said mover Jim Frazier, who brought the skulls into the store.
Once the skulls were dropped off, Brooke didn't quite know what to do with them.
"It took a long time for me to be able to touch it," she said.
She couldn't find a proper place to put the skulls. And make no bones about it, her store customers are looking for something -- not someone.
"I didn't know what I was in for," Brooke said. "It's been an experience."
So Brooke put the heads together and sold them on eBay. The child's skull sold for $1,500 and the adult's for nearly $500. And it's all perfectly legal.
"It's hinged here and dissected on the top, which makes it legal to sell," she explained as she held one.
They sold, she said, for medical research.
"They had a lot of questions about the jaw, a lot of questions about the teeth," Brooke said of the purchasers.
She was surprised to see plenty of other skulls for sale online. Nearly two grand later, she proved she makes no hollow promises.
"We were able to make him some money and have a story, have some excitement here in the store," Brooke said.
