Over the weekend, someone discovered what appeared to be a teddy bear wrapped in human skin on the sidewalk outside an AMPM convenience store on Bear Valley Road in Victorville, California. The gruesome sight prompted authorities, including the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and a coroner investigator, to rush to the scene after calls about potential human remains.
Highlights
- A human-like teddy bear was found outside a Victorville convenience store over the weekend.
- A forensic pathologist and coroner confirmed the object was a latex horror prop, not human skin.
- South Carolina-based special effects artist Robert Kelly, owner of Dark Seed Creations, acknowledged creating and shipping the bear to a Victorville customer just days earlier.
Soft Toy Found Outside Victorville Convenience Store Was Actually Made of Latex
A 23-year-old Victorville man, Hector Corona Villanueva, was arrested for “causing a report of emergency” and for falsely planting evidence, indicating authorities suspect the bear was intentionally left to cause alarm. He will be booked for reporting the false emergency and for wrongfully and deliberately planting evidence.
Despite its horrific appearance, the bear is a crafted piece of art. South Carolina-based special effects artist Robert Kelly notably produces a variety of faux-human-skin horror props for haunted attractions and private collectors through Dark Seed Creations.
He posted a video of the items in his shop on Facebook to prove that the item was created and shipped by him and that there was no cause for concern. He admitted the recent media attention was good for business, even if he didn’t condone the prank. “I don’t know if the guy broke any laws or [if] it was just a prank, but it looks like he definitely got some people riled up,” said Kelly, in a statement to ABC7 News.
Deputies of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigated the “human skin teddy bear” and found that it was made of latex. The toy’s hyper-realistic appearance made it perfect for a prank like the one Villanueva pulled on the Victorville public.
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Perfectly stupid.
I saw this report on an L.A. news station site — they pixelated the photo of the bear at crime scene!
Very few teddy bears these days are made from human skin