Five organs found on the streets of Chicago do not belong to humans, Illinois authorities said on April 19.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed five hearts recovered the same day at 9:30 a.m. local time from a downtown dumpster did not come from humans.
UPDATE: Officials confirm that five hearts found in an alley in downtown Chicago are not human. https://t.co/hi49bVd7XY pic.twitter.com/swMaW6pKXn
— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) April 19, 2019
Chicago Police Department said a maintenance person called 911 to report the chilling discovery in an alley behind a building near the Chicago Theater, on the 100 block of East Benton Place within the Loop neighborhood.
DEVELOPING: Police say five human hearts were possibly found Friday in an alley in Chicago. An investigation is ongoing. https://t.co/pFCnRxZFrf
— 23 WIFR (@23WIFR) April 19, 2019
UPDATE: Police sources say that five human hearts may have been found behind a Loop building https://t.co/hvigIpuKrJ pic.twitter.com/NXCJCseqzL
— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) April 19, 2019
CBS Chicago reported officials from the medical examiner’s office placed the five items into a larger bag.
A police spokesperson initially told ABC 7 WLS and the Chicago Sun-Times the organs might have come from humans but later that same day the medical examiner’s office ruled out the source of the organs being human or even primate.
Update: Medical examiner says hearts found in Chicago alley are not human https://t.co/oNnFO00wRQ
— Eyewitness News WTVO/WQRF (@MyStateline) April 19, 2019
This in the heart of Chicago.
Officials: Five animal hearts found in Loop alley – Chicago Tribune https://t.co/OyStEFjfoc
— Avatans Kumar (@avatans) April 20, 2019
The medical examiner’s office arrived on the scene and the hearts were examined and found to be non-human, a spokesperson said.
The medical examiner’s office only examines human tissue and no further testing will be conducted on the hearts, the spokesperson added.
“They are real hearts,’’ the spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s an animal.’’
Five hearts that were found in an alley near the Chicago Theater in the Loop belonged to animals, officials said. https://t.co/QV9ZK3Jlm9
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) April 19, 2019
Update: Medical examiner says hearts found in Chicago alley are not human https://t.co/oNnFO00wRQ
— Eyewitness News WTVO/WQRF (@MyStateline) April 19, 2019
It is still unclear exactly what animal the organs originally came from but that did not stop concerned citizens from speculating.
Chicago, don’t worry! The five hearts found in an alley were determined to be pig hearts and not human hearts. No further questions!!!
— Stephanie Weber (@steph_eloise) April 20, 2019
Police detectives are continuing to investigate where the organs came from.