Police seeking owner of briefcase filled with fossils

Police in Alabama are trying to find the owner of an old briefcase that was filled with what appears to be ancient fossils, teeth, and crystals.

Photos released by police Wednesday show what appear to be fossilized fish, animal teeth, geodes, a large shell and a small human mask carved from clay or something similar.

A citizen found the brown bag in Mobile recently and took it to a police precinct office, said police spokeswoman Charlette Solis.

“They are beauties just looking at them, and they are unique,” said Solis.

Officers believe the items are genuine, Solis said, but they don’t know who owns them since there wasn’t any identification with the brown briefcase, which has worn handles. No one has reported any crime or lost satchel that seems linked to the discovery, she said.

Each of the 17 items in the briefcase was wrapped individually in old, yellowed pages from a Mobile Press-Register newspaper, Solis said.

“They’ll probably sit in our property room forever if we can’t determine who owns them,” she said.