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An investigation is underway in San Bernardino County after a teddy bear seemingly wrapped in something that looked like human skin was discovered over the weekend.
What we know:
According to the sheriff’s office, the bear was found at a bus stop near the entrance of the ARCO AM/PM station at the intersection of Bear Valley and Amethyst roads in Victorville on Sunday, July 13, just after noon.
An investigator with the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office responded to the scene and collected the teddy bear, which was later determined to be constructed of “man-made materials and contained no human tissue,” officials said.
Maker of bear speaks out
Dig deeper:
South Carolina-based artist Robert Kelly of Dark Seed Creations is taking credit and confirmed to FOX 11 he shipped one of his bears to a customer in Victorville last week.
Kelly told People Magazine he “started getting tons of messages and calls from people telling us about the incident” after the news hit.
“Our work is pretty easily recognizable and people were sending the articles left and right. I looked and sure enough it was the bear I sent out last week,” Kelly told the publication. “Every artist wants credit [for] their work, so I said ‘I made that’ and haven’t been able to catch up with messages since.”
On Sunday, Kelly posted a video of the bears on Facebook, writing that his work had been “used in a prank.”
“No I did not have any knowledge of the [buyer’s] intentions nor was I involved in a prank on the other side of the nation from me,” the artist wrote, adding that anybody can still order one of the bears online. It retails for $165.
Deputies make arrest
On Monday evening, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said they identified and arrested the person who left the teddy bear at the gas station.