Someone found animal organs in the Keys. It’s likely a Santeria offering, police say

Someone dumped a bowl filled with goat organs off a road on Big Pine Key, police said.

They could have been used as part of a religious ritual by Santeria worshipers, according to authorities.

The bowl was made of wood.

“Like a salad bowl,” said Bobby Dube, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which took the lead on the investigation into the finding.

In Santeria, animal carcass offerings are made as an act of worship.

The entrails, found at 8:51 a.m. Wednesday at the end of Key Deer Boulevard, were in a region that doubles as a national Key deer refuge where federally protected species freely roam neighborhoods.

The Monroe County medical examiner was called in to determine what the organs came from.

Initially, police were considering that the organs came from a Key deer.

The entrails were found by employees of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which reported it to the sheriff’s office.

This story was originally published May 22, 2019 at 12:45 PM.