Officials are investigating after a human heart was found Thursday at a Tennessee Department of Transportation salt barn in McEwen, Tennessee.
A Tennessee Department of Transportation found the heart while moving salt in the barn, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. Investigators were able to determine that the heart belonged to a male. It is unclear how long the heart was at the facility before being found.
Authorities are investigating the discovery of a human heart in a salt pile at a Tennessee Department of Transportation facility. https://t.co/rmAEJlDK1K
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 20, 2022
“Anytime we go on the scene where there’s a body or remains we treat it as a homicide, and then basically prove different,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said, reported the outlet.
The heart reportedly appears to be the size of a tennis ball. Additional witnesses described the heart as undamaged.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is tracking where the salt in the facility was delivered from, according to News Channel 5 Nashville.
“Somebody, somewhere knows,” Davis said, reported News Channel 5 Nashville. (RELATED: Police Charge Mom With Murdering Her Son, Dumping His Remains After She Falsely Reported Him Missing)
A crime lab will also test the heart’s DNA to determine where the heart came from, News Channel 5 Nashville reported. It could be several weeks before a full DNA profile is mapped.
“At the request of 23rd Judicial District Attorney General Ray Crouch, TBI special agents are working along with deputies with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s office, in investigating the discovery of a human heart in a TDOT salt facility in McEwen Thursday,” The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement to the Daily Caller.
“An initial examination of the heart determined that it was that of an adult male. Additional DNA testing will be performed to try to determine its origin. This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the statement reads.