ROGERS PARK — An otherwise serene, blue-skied morning at Jarvis Beach took a dark and gruesome turn Monday morning after a woman discovered what she initially thought might be a wrapped human head washed ashore.
As it turned out, no human remains were found in the package — but at least five birds and a large fish weren't so lucky.
The woman who discovered the package, which appeared to be oval-shaped and completely covered by a piece of shiny blue material, called the police to report it. She said her dog wouldn't go near it.
Linze Rice discusses the creepy discovery:
She later went back to find it'd been opened, and it wasn't pretty.
Inside were about five birds — a crow, a pigeon or two, and two or three chickens or roosters — who were in fact beheaded. Included in the cluster was a large fish as well, though its head was intact.
Surrounding the birds was an abundance of chopped fruit and other foods, like a cracked egg and what appeared to be large kidney beans. Portions of a broken coconut were also visible.
Strewn about were about four or five single dollar bills.
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Sitting next to the opened package was a red tea light candle and the shiny blue material used to previously hold it all together.
Some who practice the Caribbean religion of Santería have been known to sacrifice animals and food as part of their religious tradition:
"Ebó is a ritual offering or sacrifice as dictated by divination. Ebó is one of the cornerstones of the Santeria religion, and it is the tool that we have been given by the Orishas to change our fate and return our lives to a balanced and healthy state."
Brenda Lara, a Mexican-American who celebrates Dia de los Muertos and has a degree in international studies from Roosevelt University, said it wasn't likely the package was related to the religious holiday — which happened to also overlap with Monday's date.
"Our altars/shrines are done at home," she said. "Our family members have to come home, we don't want them to stay lost on Earth."
It's not the first time something creepy has been found on the shores of a Rogers Park beach.
In March, DNAinfo reported when a deer head was found atop a stake in the ground at nearby Loyola Beach, which appeared to have a flag emblazoned with a logo.
And over the summer, the morgue was called when High Priestess Alyce Chiprez's ingredients to ward off bad luck caught fire in Chicago Lawn.
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