Shocking discovery of ancient bones turns couple's kitchen renovation into 'crime scene'

Ross Sledger, 49, was at work in spring 2019 when a builder working on a kitchen addition at his home unearthed what appeared to be human bones, news agency SWNS reported.

The remains were formally re-interred this August during a ceremony at a church near Sledger's home in Wye, Kent, in southeastern England.

"[The builder] said, 'I've found some bones,' and I said, 'Great,' thinking it was farming or pets," Sledger said.

Sledger said he was stunned to learn the remains could be human.

"As you can imagine, a lot of language came out of my mouth. I was thinking, 'You must be joking, this is a wind-up,' but he said, 'I'm deadly serious,'" Sledger recalled. 

Around 10 officers went to the home to sift through the backyard, with investigators eventually finding remains of a second body.

"They thought it was a crime scene," Sledger said. "They had to have an officer overnight, and every half hour he had to get out of his car."

"That set off the neighbor's floodlights, which set off my dog barking. So as you can imagine, I didn't get much sleep that night," he added, as SWNS noted.

Sledger later uncovered what he described as "knuckles and fingers" while installing artificial grass in his backyard - which caused some renovation-related anxiety.

"I was thinking, 'Oh no, this is going to delay it. I've got bricklayers next week,'" Sledger said.

"I was thinking, 'This could take months,' but luckily, they were done and dusted by the end of the weekend, which was good."

"I think it was a question of getting permission and whether they would be allowed to be there," Sledger added.

"I think it was a bit more red tape than anything else."

Sledger's backyard isn't the only one in the United Kingdom to yield an unexpected piece of history.

Another British couple made a historically valuable - though far less grim - discovery in their own backyard recently. 

The coins were sold at auction in November 2025 for more than £380,000, or roughly $500,000.