An Orange County woman made a shocking discovery during a walk along the beach when she came across a piece of human skull in the sand.
San Clemente resident Katherine Kinnison said she was walking near Linda Lane Beach on Wednesday when she spotted something strange sticking out of the sand.
She initially thought the find — the bottom half of a jawbone with four teeth still attached — could have belonged to a sea animal before realizing it was human.
“I had this thought, ‘Don’t touch it and go alert somebody,’” Kinnison told The California Post.
She said she’s walked the beach numerous times, but this was the “most unique thing” she’d ever found.
“I found seal bones in the past and parts of different fish vertebrae,” Kinneson explained. “I still don’t think I have processed what it is.”
Kinnison notified area lifeguards, who contacted the sheriff’s department.
A spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said that the skull fragment is now with the coroner’s office, which is working with the Native American Heritage Committee.
“They do believe it’s of Native American heritage,” Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla told The Post. “And they do not believe it is anything suspicious or malicious.”
Kinnison cited a combination of recent high tides and sand replacement for potentially unearthing the jawbone.
The area of Orange County where Kinnison made the discovery was once home to the Native American group of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation.
The California Post contacted the Native American Heritage Committee for comment.