Decades-old human remains found at construction site on college campus in New Mexico
Workers unearthed an eerie discovery at a construction site on a New Mexico college campus.
While excavating Thursday, Aug. 10, workers dug up human remains that appeared to be decades old, New Mexico Highlands University officials said in an email to McClatchy News.
The university stopped excavation work upon the discovery, secured the area and covered the remains to protect them, officials said. Originally, the university planned to move work on the renovation project to areas of the building that don’t require excavation.
Classes and day-to-day university business continued uninterrupted on and after Friday, Aug. 11.
Then the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator got to work at the site Aug. 18 and asked the university to stop work at the site during its investigation. University officials said the renovation work would not continue until the agency gives them the all clear.
Officials did not release information about the nature of the remains, including whether it appeared to be a grave site. But they said the university would take “all necessary precautions to preserve the dignity of the site as well as the remains within.”
New Mexico Highlands University is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico. About 1,600 undergraduate students attend the university, according to U.S. News and World Report.
This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Decades-old human remains found at construction site on college campus in New Mexico."
