Police Say Human Remains Found on Canadian Beach Could Be Linked to 1800s Shipwreck

It’s not the first time human remains from a historic shipwreck have washed ashore Canadian land. In 2019, it was reported that the human remains of 21 individuals were unearthed in Gaspé, Quebec.

Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) say human remains were discovered on a cliff in western Prince Edward Island. The remains were first reported to be found last weekend at around 4 PM, according to the RCMP.

Corporal Gavin Moore said the remains revealed themselves after the cliff had eroded over time. The RCMP is continuing to investigate the findings, but the remains are thought to be linked to a shipwreck from the 19th century. Officials from the coroner’s office say a significant amount of work must be done to determine who the remains could belong to.

Human remains recently discovered on a beach in Canada may be connected to a shipwreck from the 19th century, police said this week.

It is an area where human remains have previously been discovered, authorities said. https://t.co/DZADayxT6l

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"Police are investigating, and have not ruled out that the remains could be connected to a historical shipwreck burial," the RCMP said, adding that human remains had also been found in the West Cape in the 1950s and the 1960s. But they have not specified which shipwreck the remains are connected to.

"Those human remains were of course a separate investigation [but] very similar to this one," Moore said. "As it was reported at that time, it was believed that it was possibly connected to a shipwreck from the 1800s."

In 2019, it was also reported that the human remains of 21 individuals were unearthed in Gaspé, Quebec, believed to be from a 1847 shipwreck. The ship had left Ireland and sank off the coast of Gaspé, killing at least 150 people who were fleeing the Potato Famine.