Chapter 15
Appendix I—Online News Article
Point Loma coyote sighting leads to grim discovery
SAN DIEGO – Local police found a human arm after residents reported seeing a coyote walking down the street carrying the severed limb in its mouth, authorities said early Sunday morning.
The arm was found in the parking lot of the Presidio Apartments in the Point Loma neighborhood, assistant police chief of centralized investigations Darryl Bautista told the Union-Tribune.
The coyote was not present when police arrived on the scene.
Coyotes are native to San Diego County but rarely spotted in the neighborhood.
Bautista said the arm appeared to show “numerous bite marks,” possibly from “more than one set of teeth.” However, he declined to comment on the nature of the marks.
“I leave that to the coroner to tell us,” he said.
Ace Selder, a resident of the Presidio Apartments who claimed to have scared the coyote off, said, “I got a good look [at the arm] before they took it. Those weren’t just coyote bites. There were human ones too.”
Bautista refused to comment but described the sight as “very disturbing.”
He said police were working to identify who the arm belonged to. He noted the presence of several distinguishing tattoos, including a tribal symbol, a cross with angel wings, and the words “Eat Me.”
Selder corroborated the description, calling the marking “ironic.”
Authorities are treating the case as a possible homicide.
“If anyone can help identify the victim or saw anything that could be useful to our investigation, please come forward,” Bautista said. “There’s a potential killer loose in our city. Man or beast, the sooner we find them, the safer we’ll all be.”