It had the makings of being a very gruesome find for police in Egg Harbor Township.

Luckily, it wasn't.

Instead, what has happened has left local authorities with a lot of questions.

Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
Photo by Jo Szczepanska on Unsplash
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Police alerted to a possible dead child's body in the marsh

Wednesday morning, Egg Harbor Township Police say they received a call that a fisherman found what was believed to be a child's body in the marsh in the area of Ocean Drive, off Longport Boulevard.

EHT Police responded, as did New Jersey State Police, along with officers from the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities say they followed crime scene protocol and treated the situation as a homicide investigation.

That is, until it wasn't.

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Police recovered what appeared to be a body inside a blanket wrapped with duct tape

Police were able to collect what they thought was a body - but, it turned out to be "a silicone anatomically correct doll."

What the heck? Why would anyone do that?

That's what police are now wondering.

Police say someone discarded this lifelike doll, and they want to know why.

The investigation wasted valuable police resources that could have been spent elsewhere.

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Police have a mystery on their hands

Authorities aren't very pleased with the situation. While it could have been an awful situation, it turned out to be a huge waste of time.

Egg Harbor Township Police are asking anyone who has information on the situation to please come forward and contact their department.

Again, it could have been worse. Instead it was just.....stupid.

SOURCE: Egg Harbor Township Police Department.

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