The Regional Forensic Center and the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department carried out DNA tests on the skull and discovered it belonged to Will McCann.
A mantlepiece really does add a certain flair to your home, and most people decorate that space with some candles, bowls, and photo frames. One particular house in Morgan County, Tennessee decided to spice things up by placing a skull donning a pair of sunglasses on their mantlepiece. Little did they know that the rather unique living room ornament actually belonged to a man named Junior Will McCann who had been missing for eight years.
According to Mirror, cops were tipped off by a member of the public about the human remains, which were on full display in the unidentified home. The skull that had been on the mantel for over a year was immediately seized by officials and taken for tests.
The Regional Forensic Center and the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department carried out DNA tests on it and discovered it belonged to McCann. District Attorney General Russell Johnson confirmed that he had been missing for eight years.
Johnson even shared details of the incident from October 2020 on his Facebook timeline. He wrote: "The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office has been informed that a positive identification (through DNA testing performed by Knox County Regional Forensics Center and the UT Department of Anthropology) has been made of a human skull that was found allegedly in March of 2019 by an individual in the Gobey area of Morgan County."
"Someone subsequently placed the skull on a fireplace mantel where a pair of sunglasses were added. The skull remained there until the Sheriff's Office was informed of its existence. The MCSO retrieved the skull and sent it for testing using DNA from family members of Junior Willie McCann who had been missing since September 2012. The DNA from the family members and the skull were a match."
The owner of the home where the skull was being displayed said that someone had given it to them. Johnson then revealed that McCann was murdered by a member of his own family who has since died.
It was also mentioned that the skull was revealed in March 2019 in the Gobey area of the county, ten miles from where police found it. A search was conducted in the area the skull was discovered in but unfortunately, no other remains were found. Nobody knows what happened to the rest of his body.
A woman named Barbara Hall commented under Johnson's post saying: "I've read the story twice on this, then I heard that they said a dog drug it there, and they put it on the mantle! This story and what you hear others say will never be a true story! Or will it ever be solved because I do not believe the person who killed that man is dead? No truth in and this case will go unsolved and closed! Too many evildoers and liars!"
Meanwhile, Melanie Russell wrote, "That’s just plain crazy!" and we could all agree to that, right?
References:
https://www.facebook.com/russell.johnson.1460/posts/3406479536132302
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images/Nikola Vukicevic
