Two Polk County men were arrested after deputies recovered SIX human skulls and other bones that came from a cemetery in Mount Dora.
Back on December 6th, someone had raided four graves at Edgewood Cemetery and removed four heads from their corpses.
Lake County Sheriff's Office recovered DNA evidence from cigars found near the graves. That led deputies to one of the suspects, 43-year-old Brian Montalvo Tolentino. Tolentino told deputies he went to the cemetery with 39-year-old Juan Burgos Lopez, who used a crowbar to open the graves and remove the heads of the deceased. According to Sheriff Grady Judd, the men were using the remains for religious ceremonies.
During today's press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd shared some shocking details.
They said, "the spirits led us to the graves." He continued that it was their preference to have the remains of heroes, as "the spirits (of heroes) are much stronger than a regular person."
3 of the 4 skulls were veterans of the military.
Juan Burgos Lopez used to be a police officer in Puerto Rico, but he said he resigned because it was "corrupt." Sheriff Grady Judd also shared that Juan considers cemeteries to be "Shopping Centers."
A search of Lopez’s home turned up a total of six skulls, a hand, partial arm, and multiple other large bones “within what appeared to be some sort of religious shrine,” according to authorities.
Both Lopez and Tolentino were arrested on the Lake County warrants in Polk County, and are being held in lieu of $40,000 bond each.
The men are charged with four counts of disturbing the contents of a grave and four counts of abuse of a dead human body. They could face more charges in Polk County.