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Police say Gouverneur cranium caper is solved

Posted 5/26/15

GOUVERNEUR -- The cranium caper appears to be solved. Gouverneur Police say the brains found scattered on Beckwith Street last week are sheep brains that were stolen from Gouverneur High School and a …

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Police say Gouverneur cranium caper is solved

Posted

GOUVERNEUR -- The cranium caper appears to be solved.

Gouverneur Police say the brains found scattered on Beckwith Street last week are sheep brains that were stolen from Gouverneur High School and a teenager is facing charges for the alleged theft.

“An investigation … concluded were that of a sheep and and part of the educational setting for the Agriculture Department at Gouverneur High School,” according to a prepared statement from Gouverneur Police Sgt. Gordon Ayen.

The brains were stored in a vacuum-sealed bag that was kept in a filing cabinet. The teen allegedly stole it and dumped them in the street. He has been petitioned to St. Lawrence County Family Court and the school is taking disciplinary action, Ayen said.

Veterinarian Dr. Timothy Monroe had hypothesized the brains came from dogs, but a Clarkson University professor saw a photo of the brains and contacted NorthCountryNow, claiming they came from a sheep.

“In examining the specimen, weighing and measuring … it weighed 70 grams, which is consistent with a dog, beagle-sized brain,” Monroe said.

"Those could also be sheep brains, which are more commonly used in dissection laboratories," Clarkson Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biomolecular Science Alisa Woods said. "They look more like sheep brains to me."

Monroe said the specimen he examined was in pristine condition. He says it had been removed from its former owner’s head with precision and skill, noting it was preserved with either formaldehyde or Formalin, a brand-name formaldehyde solution.

“It had been professionally removed and preserved … it was in very good condition, had not been damaged in any way,” according to Monroe. “You have to appreciate when you remove a brain from a skull, which is made of bone, you have to cut the bone all the way around. This had not been damaged, or nicked, or cut in its removal.”

Read our initial report here.