Native American skull in limbo

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It seems, for the moment at least, that no one is researching how a Native American skull landed at Pleasanton’s recycling center.

The skull was found Friday morning; Pleasanton police received a call from the city’s transfer station on Busch Road of a found human skull. Photos of the skull were forwarded to a forensic anthropologist after an initial contact with the coroner’s office, and it was determined to be Native American remains.

That led the Native American Heritage Commission to step in, and Pleasanton Police were told they had no jurisdiction in the case.

However, Debbie Treadway, an environmental specialist with the NAHC, said her organization isn’t investigating the incident either.

“We have the mandate to designate a most likely descendant when Native American remains are found,” Treadway said. “We have asked somebody if they could pick up the skull and rebury it.”

That leaves unanswered questions about how the skull came to be at the recycling center in the first place — whether it was intentionally or accidentally mixed with other items — and whether other remains are in the area.

Police said the skull likely came in on one of three recycling trucks on May 3, making pinpointing where it came from difficult at best.