INDIANAPOLIS, July 29 A fisherman hauled in an unusual catch in Indiana recently - a 145-year-old headstone.
Jim Hodges, 62, was merely surprised by the weighty catch he made but was shocked to learn a dozen more headstones were still submerged underwater in the White River outside Broad Ripple, The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday.
"All these headstones, I don't think they have any business of being where I found them," Hodges said.
Experts from the state Department of Natural Resources theorize someone dumped the headstones in the river decades ago and not that there was an underwater cemetery.
"With the names and the birth and death dates, they should be able to have a pretty good chance of tracking where these things came from," said R. Dale Ogden, chief curator at Indiana State Museum. "It's a mystery, isn't it? It may be a mystery that will be solved."
While the investigation into the headstones' proper homes continue, Hodges said he has a simple temporary solution for the headstone he reeled in.
"I figure it belongs in my garden just as well as it belongs in the bottom of a river," he told the Star.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
