Found human hand belongs to buried woman at nearby Staten Island cemetery: police

PLEASANT PLAINS, Staten Island (PIX11) — A human hand discovered by a man walking his dog on Staten Island belonged to a woman buried at a nearby cemetery, police said.

The unnerving find was made at Amboy and Cunningham roads near North Mount Loretto State Forest in Pleasant Plains around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, police said.

Officials from the city medical examiner’s office responded and confirmed the body part to be a right hand, police said. Further investigation revealed that the hand belonged to a 63-year-old woman buried in 2011 at Resurrection Cemetery, about a mile away.

The plot next to the woman’s grave was excavated on Feb. 27 for a new burial, police said. It's likely that the excavation equipment damaged the casket and severed her right hand.

However, it is unclear how the hand traveled about a mile to the location it was discovered, police said.