Human finger found in Tacoma driveway IDed, returned to owner
Jul 19, 2024, 12:28 PM | Updated: 5:35 pm
A Tacoma Police Department vehicle is seen on a street. (Image courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Image courtesy of KIRO 7)
The case of a mysterious human finger found in a Tacoma driveway earlier this month has been solved and the digit has been returned to its rightful owner.
During the afternoon of July 5, Tacoma Police Department (TPD) officers responded to a report of a finger found in a driveway in the 800 block of South Pine Street, according to a statement TPD Public Information Officer Detective William Muse sent to MyNorthwest.
Muse provided an update in a statement to MyNorthwest Thursday that a person “saw the story” and called the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, which had taken custody of the digit, to claim the finger.
Earlier coverage: Finger found; suspect steals car with passengers inside
The man identified himself by his surname and admitted to losing multiple digits “messing around with some fireworks.” Muse didn’t provide the identity of the man who claimed the finger in his statement. He did explain the latent prints on the recovered finger correspond with the information about the person available in the FBI database.
Muse concluded his statement by saying the case hasn’t been assigned to an investigator and added that no criminal charges will be pursued.
Previous information about the human finger found in Tacoma
In his July 5 update, Muse told MyNorthwest there was no blood around the finger and it appeared to have been, possibly, left on the property by an animal, perhaps a bird.
At that time, TPD officers attempted to identify the finger using a portable fingerprint scanner. But no identification was able to be made.
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Calls were made to local hospitals, Muse added. But they didn’t report anyone being treated over the Fourth of July holiday for any sort of dismembering injury.
Editors’ note: This story originally was published Thursday, July 18, 2024. It has been updated and republished since then.
Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.
