PEORIA, Ill. – A woman is recalling the grim discovery she and her kids made on Tuesday in Peoria while hunting for mushrooms.
Christall Ropp and her six kids were in a wooded area near Crest Dr. and Hill St. in South Peoria, in a spot where they frequently hunt for morel mushrooms.
Ropp says during their hunt on Tuesday afternoon, the family discovered human remains that included a human skull, a skeleton, and clothing that included plaid white shorts, red underwear, and shoes.
Ropp spoke with WMBD’s “The Phil Luciano Show” about the experience, and says the remains were found off a nearby trail. She adds that the family had been in the area in the past week, riding four-wheelers and walking on the trails.
“We only went up that way because we were walking and we seen a chain on a tree, and when we seen that chain, we ended up going up that way, because I was like ‘Oh, that’s kinda weird,’” Ropp said. “So we walked up that way, and that’s kinda how we came across it.”
Ropp says there were two bicycles also found in the area where the remains were discovered, more specifically the skull.
Ropp says her two-year-old was the first to alert her about the remains. She says the kids were taken back home while she returned to the area on the phone with police about the discovery.
Ropp says her kids were scared about the experience and the discovery, and that they had nightmares about it. But she told her kids that the discovery was a good thing, because it helps solve a missing person case. And Ropp says it inspired one of her daughters to get into forensic investigations.
An autopsy and forensic investigation on the remains was to take place on Wednesday.
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