Mass. cemetery workers digging a grave find human remains, sans coffin

Workers digging a new grave in Stoughton last week found a set of human remains buried in the cemetery — and not inside a coffin, according to officials. 

The workers made the grisly discovery last Wednesday at Dry Pond Cemetery on Bay Road and called the police, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement shared through the Stoughton Police Department. 

On Friday, authorities carefully excavated the remains and brought them to the chief medical examiner’s office in Boston, according to the statement.

“The origin of the remains, the identity of the person, the cause and manner of that person’s death, as well as how the remains became interred at Dry Pond Cemetery are all unknown and under active investigation,” the DA’s office said. 

Dry Pond Cemetery is the second-oldest cemetery in Stoughton, according to a 2001 Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation report. Divided into two sections — one old and one new — the cemetery is the final resting place of 14 Revolutionary War veterans, the report noted.

Dry Pond Cemetery