Wes Coffey

At least, it was hard to tell because everything was mixed together, but I could count two full stomachs.

The stomachs of a ruminant animal are distinctive.

They have four chambers.

i was looking at eight chambers arranged in two clear groups two hearts side by side too many lengths of intestine for one animal and then under one of the stomachs i saw the ribs they were human ribs i want to be very careful about this because i've told this story to exactly three people my wife a therapist and a sheriff's deputy in augusta montana and every one of them asked me the same question

How did I know they were human?

I knew because I could see the sternum.

I could see the shape of the rib cage.

I could see the vertebrae attached to the back of it.

An elk's rib cage is long and narrow.

A deer's is smaller but the same basic shape.

A bear's is closer to a person's but a bear's ribs are thicker and the sternum is different.

This was a human rib cage.

It was partially covered by the organs of at least two large animals, but the shape of it was unmistakable.

It had been cracked open down the middle, and the two sides were bent outward.

The organs that should have been inside the rib cage were not there.

The heart was gone.

The lungs were gone.

I didn't say anything.

Neither did Cole.

We just stood there.