Bones found in Mount Healthy relics from Independent Order of Odd Fellows: Police
The apparent human bones found in a Mount Healthy garage Thursday are relics from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, police said.
Mount Health Police Chief Vince Demasi said the fraternal group, which previously had a lodge in Mount Healthy, used the bones for their rituals.
"We have no reason to believe the remains found were from a recent homicide," Demasi said in a Facebook post.
He said the owner of the garage had stored things from the old lodge after he purchased the building and the box of bones was among those items.
"We will continue to work to confirm this information," Demasi said.
The bones were taken to the Hamilton County Crime Lab Thursday after they were discovered in the 7400 block of Warner Avenue, officials said.
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A man had heard some juveniles talking and went into the alley to make sure everything was all right, Demasi said.
The juveniles had left, but the man saw the garage was open. Demasi said the man took a closer look and found a box with bones inside. Police confirmed the remains were human, but the Hamilton County Crime Lab is doing further analysis.
"There's no telling how long they might have been in the garage," Demasi said.
What is the Order of the Odd Fellows?
The first Order of the Odd Fellows in America was founded in 1806 and the organization is still active today, according to the group's website. The original group was founded in England in the 1600s.
The group was among many fraternal orders that were popular in the 19th and 20th centuries like the Shiners, Masons and Moose lodges.
Penny Castle is the grand secretary for the Grand Lodge of Ohio based in Springfield. She said the first Odd Fellows lodge in Ohio was built in Cincinnati and at one time there were 39 lodges in Hamilton County alone.
Now there are 40 active lodges in the state of Ohio, she said.
According to the group's website, "the degrees in odd fellowship emphasize a leaving of the old life and the start of a better one and of helping those in need." Members are ordered to "visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan."
Castle said there are 5,000 lodges in 26 countries. The organization has an education foundation, supports a children's village in Cambodia, leads a tree-planting effort and last year donated $1 million to arthritis research among other community service efforts.
As for the bones, Castle said they are used in the ceremonies to represent how delicate life is, how fast it goes and to remind people to make the most of their life.
"The ones I've seen have been plastic or paper mache," Castle said. "The ones years ago may have been different."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bones found in garage are relics from Odd Fellows lodge: Police
