Group calls for arrest of store manager caught selling human skull

Reporter: Jolena Esperto Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:
human skull
Human skull on sale at North Fort Myers store. CREDIT: WINK News

A group is saying a human skull should never have been put up for sale at an antique store following the outrage that had people across the country talking.

Over the weekend, a shopper who turned out to be an anthropologist found a real human skull at the Paradise Vintage Market in North Fort Myers.

There was a $4,000 price tag attached to the skull, which is believed to have belonged to a Native American woman, according to the anthropologist who called police.

Members of the American Indian Movement say they are outraged.

The group wants the Paradise Vintage Market manager arrested, saying she broke the law. Florida is one of only eight states where selling human remains is illegal.

In an interview with WINK News the manager of Paradise Vintage Market, Beth Meyer, admitted she put the human skull up for sale in a display case with the $4,000 price tag.

The chairman of the Florida American Indian movement, Robert Rosa, believes it is unacceptable.

“It is human remains. She tried to profit off of it. Whether it be Native American, she should be arrested. There are laws against it,” said Rosa. “It’s a common thing here in Florida, where people are just desecrating these mounds and pillaging it for the remains.”

When WINK News told Meyer about the group asking for her arrest, she didn’t comment. She did tell WINK News she spoke with the detective in charge of the case and the skull is on its way to Gainsville for University of Florida archaeologists to examine.

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