The West Virginia State Police removed “a few bones” from beneath this porch in Paden City late Sunday night. While they have been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for identification, authorities do not believe they are human bones. (Photo by Lauren Riggs)

The West Virginia State Police sent some bones found Sunday night beneath the porch of a Paden City home to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Morgantown for identification. However, Wetzel County Prosecutor Timothy Haught said, “They did not appear to be human remains.”

He said the resident of the Second Avenue home had pried up a board of their front porch and found some bones. They then contacted the Paden City Police Department, who called on Haught for assistance. They did some investigation and then contacted the WVSP who came and retrieved some bones.

“It’s been going around that there was a body under this porch,” said Haught, noting that is not true. “There were a few bones, I don’t know exactly how many, but it was what I would describe as a few bones.” While they were not immediately identifiable, he felt sure they were not human remains.

“This is not the first time somebody has reported bones and we’ve had to identify them,” noted Haught.

Understandably, neighbors were curious and concerned when the WVSP taped off the porch as a crime scene and used saws at about midnight to get to the bones in question. But Haught assures, there was “no body, no skeleton” found.