Man who discovered human bones in Greenwood in 1993 shares his story
GREENWOOD, Ind (WISH) — A day after we aired a piece on one of Greenwood’s most mysterious cold cases, a person involved in the initial discovery contacted WISH-TV.
Jake Hehman was just seven years old at the time. He says he and his friends were out exploring, hoping to find dinosaur bones after watching previews on television for Jurassic Park.
Jake is in his 30s now. He’s raising his family in his childhood Greenwood home. Behind the house, across a few yards, there used to be a cornfield near I-65.
“This is where dad used to play. There wasn’t a fence there or none of those houses,” he told his three-year-old son.
Jake revisits the spot where he and his friends were playing. He was in the second grade in 1993 when he made the shocking discovery.
“It was before the golf course and the development and right over here. Actually, right around where this pizza box is. We were little boys on our hands and knees digging up dirt and found, at the time what we though was a dinosaur bone,” he recalls.
Jake thought it was his lucky day.
“Imagine going out and digging for gold and actually finding gold. We were like, we were fighting over who got to keep them. Luckily, none of the other parents wanted them. I got to take them home to my parents,” he said.
He went over to his neighbors in hopes that he’d be able to identify the bones.
“Our neighbor at the time, Rex, worked for the ambulance crew. He was able to identify that it was not a dinosaur bone or an animal bone. It was a human femur,” he remembers.
23 years later, as he chases after his son, Jake sees his discovery through different eyes.
“I think about my kids and if they were to find something like that now. I would be heartbroken for them. Immediately, I’d be heartbroken for the family that’s missing somebody,” he said.
This case is still unsolved. Police believe the remains belong to a male between 17 and 30 years old.
They believe the bones were at the site for at least 18 months, possibly even up to three years. If you have any information that could help in this investigation, contact the Greenwood Police Department at 317-882-9191.
