In a bizarre turn of events in keeping with the Halloween season, what initially appeared to be a serious investigation involving a possible human skull discovered in a cave near the Canadian border quickly turned into a comical prank, leaving both authorities and residents with an amusing anecdote.
The incident began when a concerned paddleboarder stumbled upon what they believed to be human remainsinside a cave along the picturesque Pend Oreille River.
The paddleboarder promptly reported their discovery to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Police, which led to a swift response from multiple law enforcement agencies.
WDFW Officer Erickson, in collaboration with a Pend Oreille County detective and a Border Patrol agent, arrived at the scene on jet skis to reach the cave’s entrance.
The trio then swam inside to conduct an examination.
As they ventured into the cave, the officers discovered what appeared to be a skull at the bottom.
Officer Erickson, eager to get a closer look, took the plunge beneath the water, using borrowed goggles from nearby boaters.
However, the officer quickly discovered that the supposed “skeletal remains” were in fact a plastic skull-shaped beer bong designed to mimic a skull and spinal column.
To make matters even more perplexing, the beer bong had been intentionally filled with rocks, creating an eerily realistic illusion of a submerged skeleton.
Therefore, it became evident to investigators that the object had been strategically placed in the water as part of an elaborate prank.
The prankster, perhaps unwittingly, had managed to alarm authorities with their convincing deception.
The WDFW Police later acknowledged the situation in a humorous Facebook post, stating: “The remains ended up being a plastic skull beer bong someone apparently stuffed full of rocks and sunk to the bottom to prank people. Little did they know the trick worked, maybe too well.”
The incident will undoubtedly go down in local folklore.
As for the cave along the Pend Oreille River, it remains an interesting and mysterious location that will now forever be associated with the great “skull beer bong” prank.
