Amy Campbell, Senior Editor

December 8, 2008

1 Min Read
What Remains

Put this one down under strangest things uncovered in a self-storage unit. After her mother died, Odette Lamanna, 48, of Landing, N.J., flew to Delray Beach, Fla., a year ago to sift through her parents’ belongings at Security Self Storage. Among the various items you’d expect to see in a self-storage unit—furniture, lawn tools, etc.—Lamanna found the body of a mummified infant. The baby was wrapped in a New York Daily News dated 50 years ago and stuffed into a small green suitcase stamped with travel stickers, according to an article on PalmBeachPost.com

Of course the remains were sent out for DNA testing. Investigators took a DNA swab from Lamanna and one from the baby’s arm bones and sent the info to the Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas for comparison.

Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive because not enough DNA could be extracted from the arm bone. Although tests are being repeated, the baby’s death is now being ruled “undetermined.” So I guess what remains here is a mystery.

What is the strangest thing you’ve come across in one of your storage units? Post a comment below or drop me an e-mail at [email protected].  

About the Author(s)

Amy Campbell

Senior Editor, Inside Self Storage

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