Parts of the two skeletons discovered in a lake. — VNA/VNS Photo Lê Đức Hoảnh

TÂY NINH — Nine skeletons were found Thursday at a house in Phước Thạnh Commune, Gò Dầu District, the Mekong Delta province of Tây Ninh.

On Thursday, Đinh Văn Phong, a resident in Phước Thạnh Commune, reported to the communal district that he had discovered two human skeletons wrapped in cloths in an abandoned pond behind his house.

Officers inspected the area and found seven more skeletons hidden in a property belonging to Cao Thị Cẩm Vân, a 63-year-old widow who also lives by the pond.

According to initial testimony, Đinh Văn Xưởng, Vân’s husband, who has passed away 11 months earlier, told her five years ago that someone was willing to buy human skeletons for VNĐ100 million (US$4,300) each. Xưởng then went to Đắk Lắk Province in Central Highlands to buy these skeletons, hoping to make a profit from the sale.

However, he was unable to find a buyer for the human remains and the bones remained stored in the house.

Vân said she did not know who Xưởng bought these skeletons from or how much they cost.

When he fell ill, Xưởng told Vân about the two skeletons stored under their family’s reservoir, which had been long abandoned.

Four months after his death, Vân took the remains and threw them in the pond near her house.

She claimed she also had no knowledge of the seven newly discovered skeletons.

Tây Ninh Province Police is collaborating with the Ministry of Public Security on investigating the case and identifying the remains. — VNS