Willow Glen Resident

News

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Unexpected Discovery: PG&E made an unexpected discovery while checking for underground utilities in Willow Glen, the remains of a Native American. All work has ceased for now.

Human remains unearthed near construction site on Coolidge

By Eli Segall

Some dig for gold and strike it rich. Others dig for underground utilities and strike ... a human skeleton?

A PG&E tractor was digging a trench in the street at 1170 Coolidge Ave. to examine underground utilities on the morning of Sept. 12, when the tractor hit an unexpected bump. The three-man PG&E crew went into the 4-foot hole, scraped away some soil, and discovered a human skeleton.

The men immediately called their supervisor. The police and Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office were contacted.

Lorna Piece, a forensic anthropologist who works with the county, investigated the find at the site and determined the remains belong to a "human, prehistoric Native American."

Although there's a possibility additional corpses may be unearthed at the site, Pierce said most Native American burials are usually individual.

The case is not being investigated as a homicide, said San Jose police spokeswoman Gina Tepoorten, adding it falls under Native American protocol.

Sean Moore, who was operating the tractor, initially thought he hit a rock or an abandoned gas line. Instead, the men found well-preserved remains, including a fully intact skull.

"I've dug up pieces of a skull, pieces of a jaw, but nothing like this," said Moore, who has worked at PG&E for more than 20 years. "That thing is very cool."

Pierce estimates human remains are found 20 to 30 times per year across the county.

"People have been living here for 7,000 years," said Pierce, an anthropology professor at both Santa Clara University and San José State University. "This happens a lot."

County officials have forwarded the case to the California Native American Heritage Commission, a state agency in Sacramento. The commission will locate a "most likely descendent," someone determined to be the closest living descendent of Native Americans who once populated Willow Glen. This person will in turn decide whether to keep the remains underground or excavate and rebury.

The recently built Coolidge Avenue house between Willow Street and Meredith Avenue occupies one half of a split lot purchased last year by developer Mark De Mattei, who is constructing homes on the property. PG&E was there to connect gas and electric lines to the second house, which is still under construction. PG&E immediately shut down work on the site, spokesman Brian Swanson said. The company will wait for the commission to determine the appropriate steps before going back to work, he added.