Old skull focus of investigation

EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) _ An old skull found in a home in northwest Arkansas may have come from an Indian grave in the Lake Eufaula area. <br/><br/>A family cleaning their newly bought home in Springdale,

Monday, July 18th 2005, 11:26 am

By: News On 6

EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) _ An old skull found in a home in northwest Arkansas may have come from an Indian grave in the Lake Eufaula area.

A family cleaning their newly bought home in Springdale, Arkansas, found the skull wrapped in newspaper and stuffed in plastic bucket inside a storage shed.

Police tracked down the previous owners, Irene and Gary Lane who have moved to Checotah.

Irene Lane says her husband found the skull while fishing at Lake Eufaula about 30 years ago. Authorities say there are several Indian burial sites in the area, including some beneath the lake.

A forensic anthropologist at the University of Arkansas says the skull belonged to a white female about 17-years old and probably of partial American Indian ancestry.

Eufaula police Lieutenant Charles Hammett says there's no indication of trauma to the skull, but homicide isn't being ruled out until the forensic report is complete.