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Cops at the scene of a suspicious brush fire in Quebec last week mistook a woman’s burnt body for a mannequin and placed it in a police station dumpster.
Officials in the town of Sherbrooke, just north of Vermont, apologized for the embarrassing mistake Thursday and explained that police and firefighters were somehow duped by a bystander, according to the CBC.
“When they arrived, witnesses declared that someone had lit a silicone mannequin on fire,” Sherbrooke Police Chief Danny McConnell reportedly said.
“After discussions between the two departments, it was agreed that the mannequin would be disposed of in the container at the Sherbrooke police service, which cannot be accessed by members of the public.”
Hours after authorities trashed the victim’s body, her husband filed a missing person report, according to the article.
The woman’s cellphone was then tracked to the scene of the fire, the outlet said.
“A police officer who intervened earlier raised the coincidence insightfully,” McConnell said, adding cops pulled the corpse out of the dumpster and identified it as the body of the missing woman, according to the report.
“We are obviously sorry about this situation and rest assured the family is being advised about every key detail of this investigation,” McConnell reportedly said. “Our hearts are with the family, her partner and the kids in this very tragic situation.”
Fire officials said they were still trying to figure out how the unforgivable faux pas happened, according to the CBC.
“I’m quite stunned by this news and I can say that my entire team, the entire department, as well as those who were there that day, are in shock,” fire department head Stéphane Simoneau reportedly said.
The incident was being looked at by the Crown prosecutor’s office and Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau of Independent Investigations, the article said.
An anatomical pathologist told the news agency that a human body would lose its water weight when burnt, explaining how it could be confused with a burnt mannequin in passing.
“So, a 150-pound person would be about 60 pounds,” Dr. Robert Nicholson told the outlet.
“If somebody is a burn victim and most of the water is gone, then there is nothing but the results of the burn. It doesn’t look like a normal person and it doesn’t feel like a normal person.”
The victim was not identified in the article and police did not indicate if they made an arrest in connection with her gruesome death.
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