Ghastly Find Has LAPD Brushing Up On History : Lost Boys Found?
A smaller skeleton was wrapped in newspaper dated 1932, said Gloria Gomez, property manager of the co-op for the last 10 years. She and friend Yiming Xing, 35, who has lived there for six years, had to force open the trunk with a screwdriver, she said.
Coroner’s officials will try to determine how the babies died, check missing children reports and try to find relatives and neighbors who might know what happened.
It was Gomez’s job to clean out the basement. Everyone in the building was given until Aug. 14 to get their things out. The condo board told Gomez she could have anything that wasn’t claimed.
On Tuesday night, Gomez and Xing checked two unclaimed trunks and they were empty. They tried several keys on the last one, but finally had to pry it open. They found the drawers full and pulled out several antiques, the bowl, a toilet figurine, books, photos and documents.
Then they found the two black leather doctor bags.
Xing opened the first soft bundle. They found what looked like a piece of brown, dry, very old looking wood, Gomez said, and Xing said it appeared to be an embryo. They called 911 and waited.
When the coroner arrived, investigators unwrapped the second bundle to find the larger skeleton. This one was more childlike, wrapped in an extra blanket, the sheet and newspaper. You could see the child’s hair, Gomez said.
Both had been wrapped up like mummies but both were skeletons, Gomez said.
Another paper in the trunk was dated Sept. 17, 1937.
The women found a certificate indicating Barrie belonged to “The Peter Pan Woodlands Club,” Gomez said. That said to them that the owner of the trunk might be wealthy, she said.
Oddly, Peter Pan was created by Scottish author James M. Barrie.