SYRACUSE - Officials investigated a mausoleum in Syracuse Cemetery Thursday morning from which they believe Edward Lee Meadows allegedly stole a skull.

Meadows, 24, of 201 E. Greenhaus Drive #28, Syracuse, was taken into custody Nov. 12 after Syracuse police served a search warrant at his home and recovered the skull. The investigation into the matter was ongoing for about a year, police said.

Meadows was charged with theft, intimidation and criminal deviant conduct/abuse of a corpse. He remains in Kosciusko County Jail. Bond is set at $2,000.

Thursday, officials from the Syracuse Police Department and the Kosciusko County Coroner's Office used a video camera line to inspect the mausoleum without entering. Officials were trying to determine if the skull could have come from that mausoleum. The camera was operated through a small window in the back where it is believed entry may have been made by the suspect.

The name on the mausoleum, as far as the officials were able to determine, is D.E. Neff.

Neff died in 1912 and his wife died three years later, according to county records, officials said. It is believed both bodies are in the mausoleum.

Officials said it appeared a skull was missing from a casket in the mausoleum, as far as they could tell. But because of poor lighting, the camera was unable to capture images in several areas of the mausoleum and the investigation continues. Officials said they may have to physcially enter the mausoleum to complete the investigation.

A forensic anthropologist probably will be used to verify the skull is Neff's. If it is, officials said, the skull will be returned and the mausoleum will be permanently sealed.

Meadows will be interviewed on the matter in the next couple of days, according to officials. [[In-content Ad]]