NBC 10 I-Team uncovers new answers to Central Falls’ skeletal remains
by TAMARA SACHARCZYK, NBC 10 NEWS
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WJAR) — For the first time since skeletal remains were unearthed from a construction site in Central Falls two years ago, the NBC 10 I-Team is getting answers to who they may belong to.
A standard day of construction at 55 Sheridan Street took a creepy turn on October 24, 2022, after crews stumbled on human bones buried beneath the surface.
“First, it was the hip,” excavator Carlos Silva said. “The second time I put the bucket down and lifted it up, it was the head and some of the arm or the shoulder.”
The site quickly became a crime scene.
Rhode Island State Police were called to the scene of a construction site on Sheridan Street in Central Falls where a worker discovered human remains underground, Monday Oct. 24, 2022. (WJAR)
“We did locate other bones along with a skull,” Central Falls Police Captain Craig Viens said. “They were found in different parts of the area over there.”
The skeletal remains were collected and sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office for testing, but no information has been released to the public since then.
Now, the I-Team has confirmed through the Rhode Island Department of Health that the skull, along with bones and bone fragments recovered that day, belong to a young female.
“As far as an actual age, we are unable to determine that right now,” Viens said.
The preliminary findings on the young Jane Doe come from a forensic anthropologist contracted by RIDOH.
The department is still waiting for a final report from the forensic anthropologist, which they hope will provide more answers, including how Jane Doe died, who she is, and why her remains were buried there.
“We are going to continue to test for DNA, we may try to get dental impressions and see if we can make an identification,” Viens said.
The update to the case also comes with a twist; RIDOH revealed Jane Doe may not be the only person who needs identification.
A department spokesperson confirmed additional bones recovered at the site “likely belong to one or more other persons.”
“Maybe it is something as simple as at one point there was a burial ground there, or maybe we do determine that it was a homicide,” Viens said.
55 Sheridan Street is now a new development, but the site itself has a checkered past.
In the 80s, it was the Sportsman’s Club, a Colombian hangout run by cocaine drug lord, Hector Garcia.
The skeletal remains brought back memories for some of the so-called ‘Sparkle City’ days in Central Falls, when the Sportsman’s Club was a late-night hot spot.
In the 80s, 55 Sheridan Street was the Sportsman’s Club, a Colombian hangout run by cocaine drug lord, Hector Garcia. (WJAR)
“It was a pretty active place,” Former Central Falls Police Chief Robert Sasso said. “Through intelligence and over the years we found that he (Garcia) was pretty much like the kingpin.”
Whether the former club has any connections to this case remains to be seen.
When asked whether it’s part of the current investigation, Viens responded, “Right now, it’s not. To draw the dots connecting the two at this point would be premature.”
Viens pointed out the building has had other uses over the years.
It was a massage parlor at one point. It was also vacant for many years and even caught fire.
For now, police are focused on the current investigation which centers around two major questions: Who is Jane Doe and how did 55 Sheridan Street become her final resting place?
“We will continue to work with the state Medical Examiner’s Office and anthropologist until we’ve exhausted every avenue,” Viens said.
It’s unclear how long the additional testing will take.