A search that left a D.C. Fire and EMS cadaver dog seriously injured earlier this week has ended with the discovery of three human bones in the Arlington, Virginia, area.
The three bones, which included a skull, were scattered in a creek bed over an area about 200 square yards.
“Bones do show up on the stream beds inside of the Potomac [River], because there are deer and other animals. Their bones do wash ashore. But it is rare that it would be human bones,” U.S. Park Police Sgt. Eduardo Delgado said.
It suggests that recent heavy rains might have washed those bones downstream, he said.
The bones have been taken to the chief medical examiner’s office in Virginia, and an investigation continues.
The search began when a report came in to Park Police on July 11. “We were notified that there were possible bones in the area of Four Mile Run and the George Washington Parkway,” said Delgado.
Kylie the dog and her partner, Sgt. Gene Ryan, had joined the search on Tuesday, and the dog was injured the same day.
“My understanding is that she stepped on some old fencing, which actually severed an artery and several veins,” Delgado said. “Then she was medivaced by the United States Park Police helicopter Eagle One to the emergency clinic in Northwest Washington.”
Kylie is expected to recover.
