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Owner of fresh heart found in Ohio field sought

NORWALK, Ohio - An EMS team idling at a convenience store in Norwalk, Ohio, in late August stumbled across a heart in a Ziploc bag in a field across the way. 

CBS Cleveland affiliate WOIO-TV reports that whoever found it didn’t think much about it at the time, and just tossed it in the dumpster and left. That person was later ordered to retrieve the lonely heart in a bag out of the trash, and an investigation has been launched.

Officials aren’t terribly sure what kind of heart it is, although it is likely human.

“This is pretty unusual. We have no idea where it came from,” said Sgt. Jim Fulton, with Norwalk Police Department.  

Police are not even sure a crime has been committed.

“We don’t have a body that we’re missing a heart from. So I guess it’s an unusual occurrence, is what you would say. It’s what’s listed on our report. We hope to be able to classify it as something else and close this out,” he said.

Officials are testing the heart both for its species origin, as well as any chemical treatments.

“It could have come from a funeral home, an autopsy. There’s endless possibilities,” Fulton said.

When it was found, the heart had just started to decompose, so it could have been frozen or fresh, officials say. Fulton told WOIO they’re making the story public now in the hope of getting some public help identifying the heart.

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