Warning: This article contains graphic images and video which some readers may find distressing.
A worker has revealed the chilling moment he picked up what he believed was a 'dried cantaloupe' - only to discover it was a human skull.
Walter Stephens, of San Antonio in Texas, made the grim discovery while working at Harrell Commercial Plumbing on North San Jacinto Street - in the heart of the city, last Monday (September 15).
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The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office has officially identified the remains as belonging to 30-year-old Austin Thomas Wyrosdick.
His cause and manner of death remain under investigation, with officials yet to determine how long the skull had been at the scene.
The discovery came while Stephens was cutting grass near the front of his employer's building. The Texan spotted something unusual and at first glance he thought he’d stumbled upon a piece of rotting fruit.
“I saw what looked like a dried cantaloupe or something,” Stephens told Ksat.
"I picked it up, and the bottom part of the jaw stayed on the ground. When I turned it over and saw the teeth, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’"
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Shaken, Stephens immediately went to his boss, Brad Harrell - the company’s vice president - who in turn wasted no time in calling San Antonio police.
Officers from San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) quickly arrived on scene, and witnesses later reported seeing officials remove what appeared to be additional human remains.
Harrell said: "You don’t think you’re going to see a human skull, ever really. There was no skin or anything on it. It had been decomposed for a while."
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Harrell said detectives told him they had found further remains nearby along a creek.
SAPD later confirmed the recovery of various other possible body parts including a detached jaw and several bones.
Both Harrell and Stephens said they regularly walk the property and insisted the skull hadn’t been visible until recently.
Harrell suggested: "Either someone picked it up and dropped it off there, or some type of animal moved it."
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Harrell explained that the experience has reminded him that you don't know what's around the corner.
"Life is short," he told the publication. "Live every day to the fullest."
An investigation into Wyrosdick's death is underway.
Joe Yates