Medical Examiner: Property where bones were discovered was a cemetery in the 1850s

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- We are learning more about bones, believed to be human bones discovered on Monday evening, June 16th on the city's north side.

Police were called to a vacant lot in the 1200 block of N. 13th Street around 5:00 p.m. Monday.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office says work was being done in the 1200 block of N. 13th Street.

Crews were digging a hole for some sort of large foundation -- when they found parts of a skeleton.

The bones were not found in a bag -- but were scattered in the area of the hole, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

The Medical Examiner's Office has investigated the history of the property where the bones were discovered.

According to the Medical Examiner's Office, in the early 1850s, it was a cemetery called the Grunhagen Cemetery. It was later the German Protestant Cemetery.

Later, a funeral home operated on the property.

The cemetery was forced to move in 1874 so the city could extend 13th Street.

According to the Milwaukee Public Library files, numerous bodies were found after that time as excavating for water, gas, sewers and basements was done.

The Medical Examiner's Office says the bones appeared as though they had been in the ground for some time.

Because the property was a former cemetery, the Medical Examiner's Office doesn't believe the bones, or how they got there to be suspicious.

The case has been referred to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Grunhagen's Cemetery via the Milwaukee Public Library's files.