A Man Reportedly Stole a Human Skull from an Ancient Burial Site. Now, Officials Need Help Finding Him.

It’s not every day that photos of a desecrated Indigenous burial ground are posted on social media. But that’s precisely what happened in January, when a concerned citizen in Kanab, Utah, stumbled across a Facebook picture of a man kneeling in what appeared to be a dug-up grave, holding an ancient human skull.

After a months-long investigation, authorities announced in December that the skull was stolen from a 1,700-year-old burial ground—and a cash reward of $3,000 is being offered for information leading to the capture of the thief.

Authorities told Outside that the photo shared to social media showed a man, kneeling in the dirt, holding the skull in one outstretched hand.

“It was very reminiscent of Shakespeare,” Joel Boomgarden, head archaeologist for the Utah Trust Lands Administration (TLA), told Outside. A further examination of the photo indicated that it was taken at an ancient Indigenous burial site near Kanab, a town southeast of Zion National Park.

The site is located on state trust land managed by the TLA, an agency that also manages 3.3 million acres of land in trust for the state of Utah. TLA is now partnering with the Utah Attorney General’s Office to offer a $3,000 cash reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible.

“The theft of human remains from a burial site is a crime and a violation of human dignity,” Michelle McConkie, TLA executive director, said in the statement sent to Outside. “This act not only breaks the law—it is disrespectful to those who lived here long before us, and the scientific integrity of Utah’s archaeological record.”

Researchers previously radiocarbon-dated a corn cob found at the site, and based on these measurements, they believe the human skull dates to roughly 240 CE. Archaeologists aren’t sure which Indigenous group the remains are associated with, but think it may have belonged to an ancestor of the modern-day Kaibab Paiute. The gender and age of the individual the skull belonged to are also unknown.

Officials aren’t sharing information about the specifics of the site where the remains were stolen, other than to add that the burial ground was likely a sheltered site, such as an alcove or cave. It’s remote, hard to access, and not easily identifiable, Boomgarden added, suggesting the thief likely had prior knowledge of the site.

“You have to know where you’re going to get there,” he said. “It’s not just right off the road. You have to hike for a while, in rough terrain, to get out there. I’m willing to bet he knew about the site and went out there intentionally. Whether he went there with the intent to dig up the grave and take the skull, or just decided to do it on a whim, we can’t say at this point.”

Although the thief reportedly posted the photo on his Facebook account, what authorities now need is evidence of theft that definitively points to the perpetrator.

“We’re hoping that whoever took this thing said something to someone, or showed them something. We’re hoping to jog someone’s memory,” Boomgarden said. He added that in his 25-year tenure as a TLA archaeologist, this was the first case of desecrated remains that he’d seen.

“We get vandalism and artifacts going missing from time to time, but never this,” he said. “It’s shocking, in this day and age, that someone thought this was OK… You wouldn’t walk into your local cemetery and start digging up some people, would you? It’s no different.”

It’s unclear what the person will be charged with if they’re caught. In November, a Utah woman was ordered to pay $15,000 in fines and restitution after vandalizing petroglyphs outside of Kanab.

However, to Boomgarden, repatriating the remains is most important.

“We need to get them back where they belong,” he said. “Wherever they are now is not where they belong. They need to be back at that site.”

Readers who may have information regarding this case are encouraged to contact the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Any tipsters can remain anonymous.