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HYATTSVILLE, Md. - What was once a Hyattsville farm is now a crime scene, the burial ground where Prince George's County police detectives found two decomposing bodies buried several feet underground.
The bodies were discovered in the 6200 block of Ager Road near Rosa Parks Elementary School in Hyattsville, investigators confirmed Tuesday.
Parent Kayon McLaughlin has a child at Rosa Parks. "This is something new to me. It never really occurred to me that they would find a dead body in here or anything."
Errol Wint, another parent, was alarmed by the discovery. "Right in your backyard something like this happens. It's scary."
The property is owned by a local church, Mt. Zion Pentecostal Church in the District, but the church's Rev. James Johnson and his wife declined to comment on the case.
Neighborhood residents are spooked by the discovery. Resident Joe Sullivan said, "It's weird that someone actually killed them at put them here. How else would they have gotten there?"
Before digging with a backhoe, detectives had to remove a large amount of tall brush, proving the remains have been there for some time.
Neighbors describe the area as hidden, shrouded by trees and brush. Investigators had to bring in cadaver dogs and a backhoe for their search.
Neighbor Harold Anthony said, "When you look, you see the trees and everything, you don't know what's going on. People can come from all over the place."
Neighbors say the homeless often use the area as a refuge.
"Our detectives developed this by speaking with confidential sources in an attempt to find out about any unsolved crimes," said Major Andrew Ellis of the Prince George's County Police Department.
The bodies have been sent to Office of the Medical Examiner in Baltimore. They have not yet been identified, and no cause of death has been determined yet.
While it's being called a death investigation, sources say it could soon turn into a homicide case. "Presumably [there are] two people who were missing that we now have located their bodies," said Ellis.
The school was in session Tuesday, but classes were not affected.
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