Baby's Remains Found In Wall During Home Renovations In South Carolina

Someone remodeling a house in an old mill town in South Carolina found bones from a baby inside a wall, a county coroner said.

Authorities gathered the remains on Saturday from the home in Pacolet and will send them to a forensic anthropologist to study, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said in a statement.

It wasn't immediately apparent how long ago the baby died, or how old it was at the time. The coroner's statement referred to the bones as "fetal human skeletal remains."

"Based on our limited information, it is believed the remains have been concealed for a long period of time," Clevenger said.

In his 30 years as the coroner, Clevenger told CBS affiliate WSPA-TV this is unlike anything he's ever seen.

"It does shock the conscience of most people," Clevenger said.

Coroner's Office investigators will work with the anthropologist to determine the identity of the baby, how the child might have died and how the remains ended up inside the wall of the home on Milliken Street.

Law enforcement may be called to help if the coroner's investigation determines something criminal may have happened, Clevenger said.

It will likely take several months to finish the work, the coroner said.