The discovery of human remains and a makeshift altar has investigators in Pasadena, California on a new and bizarre case. Who could be responsible for this grisly discovery and whose bones did officials find? This is truly a disturbing story that seems like something that would happen in a different country -- not Southern California.
Pasadena police officers were checking on reports of a trespasser around the 800 block of North Oakland Avenue. Instead of a trespasser police found a horrifying display -- an altar complete with incense, candles and animal bones. However, a human skull and other remains reportedly accompanied this altar.
The photo above is of the makeshift altar where the human remains and other items of interest were located. The photo below is a zoomed out version of the one above. As you can see, the statuary is very dark and disturbing. A report from yesterday shares that the family that lives in the home practices West African Santeria -- which would explain the altar.
The bones are being tested to see if they are truly human, and an investigation is open to determine whether or not they were obtained legally by the family in the home. They could very well be for religious purposes only, but there is a slight possibility of foul play. Either way, this is a disturbing discovery to had been made in the middle of the night by officers.
~*~ Crime analyst and profiler Chelsea Hoffman is the author of "The Sin City Strangler" & many other works. Contact her privately via the "Case to Case" blog or @TheRealChelseaH on Twitter.~*~
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Comments: 5
Backyard altars in Southern Ca. are more common then people would think. There are quite a few folks that practice Santeria in one form or another that live in CA. There are also those that have altars to Saints and to the "Virgin Mary" in their yards. This is not unusual in area's with a large Hispanic population. What is unusual is to find human remains since they usually engage in small animal sacrifice and chickens are usually the animal of choice that is slain on the altars.
This altar is for "Santa Muerte" -- to protect criminals.... something shady happening at that house that police don't know about (yet).
The Lord and lady of darkness are believed to preside over the celebration that is known as the Dias de Muerte ( Day of the Dead). Many brujos ( witches and chamanes) practice their black magic under what they believe is the power of the Lady of darkness. This is an interesting topic to me since I have a Hispanic heritage and have heard the stories all my life.