A routine activity of walking a dog has turned into a mystery when a couple discovered a human skull on a former railroad bed in the village of Honeoye Falls on Monday afternoon (January 16) at 3:50 p.m.
Luke Wlasniewski and his girlfriend Madeline Alfieri were walking their dog along the old Lehigh Valley Railroad bed near Carriage Street, off of Norton Street (near the now closed General Motors plant). Startled by their discovery, the two (who often walk their dog on the trail) went home and called police.
Investigators from the Monroe County Sheriffs Office and the New York State Police recovered the skull and were back at the scene on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the ground was too frozen at that time to search for any other remains.
Officials said the skull would be sent to an anthropologist for xrays and then returned to the Monroe County Medical Examiners Office. It is unclear how old the skull might be and it may be months before test results come back due to a backlog. At this time, the skull has not been linked to any missing persons cases.
Village of Honeoye Falls Historian Lynne Menz said that there was no train accident in that location.
“The area was a train yard and there is no record of an accident there,” she said during a phone interview. “There might have been some hobo camps in the area because they would ride the rails. But, there were also workers who laid track for the railroad and worked on putting in the water system in the village. Back before Prohibition, there were a number of saloons in the village in the early 1900s and many bar fights so it is possible it could be a result of one of those fights.”
