‘Very old’ human remains found just yards away from Meghan and Harry’s California mansion

Human remains have been unearthed on a road just yards away from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s California mansion.

The bones were found on May 24 on a road in Montecito which neighbors the street of the couple’s $14.7 million luxury complex, according to a Santa Barbara Sheriff’s office spokeswoman.

They appeared to be that of a ‘young adult’ and were ‘very old,’ the spokeswoman said, and may be Native American in origin dating back centuries. 

They were reportedly uncovered during landscaping construction, she said, and the sheriff’s office had recruited the help of a forensic anthropologist to investigate their true origins. 

Human remains were found on a property yards away from Meghan and Harry’s $14.7 million mansion in Montecito, California, local sheriff officials confirmed

Authorities said the bones were not connected to the royal family, but in fact could be ancient remains

Early reports indicate that the remains, which were found around three feet deep, could be from the Chumash people, which have roots in the area dating back nearly 11,000 years.

Work was stopped at the site, and the Santa Barbara sheriff’s office said it was in communication with the local Native American commission to determine the next steps pending the result of the forensic anthropologist’s investigation.

Officials could not confirm whether the bones are Chumash in origin, but that it was likely, ‘because we live in that area,’ the spokeswoman said.

She added: ‘Until we have an official opinion from the forensic anthropologist we’re not going to be saying one way or the other.’ 

Authorities did confirm, however, that the property on which the remains were found had no connection to the Meghan and Harry’s. 

The couple purchased the mansion from Russian businessman Sergey Grishin in June 2020.

The Russian bought it for more than $25 million in 2009 and had tried to sell the home for years for up to $34 million before finally taking a loss on the property.

There has been speculation over how much the palatial house costs to maintain, with estimates that it could be as high as $4.4 million per year taking into account mortgage payments, property taxes, staff, utilities and security. 

The couple purchased the property in June 2020 from a Russian business tycoon

The couple are living among a number of other stars in the luxury neighborhood such as their friend Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres. 

The discovery of the bones is the latest bit of bad fortune for the couple since they moved in.

The property was breached two times by the same intruder over the Christmas holiday.

Nickolas Brooks, 37, was first caught trespassing at the $14.65million property in Montecito on December 24, but officers with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office let him off with a warning, TMZ reported.

Two days later Brooks showed up again on December 26 and was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor trespassing.

Brooks had driven all the way from Ohio. It’s unclear why he went to the home or if the Duke and Duchess were there at the time.

It was revealed in April that police had been called to the house nine times in as many months.

As well as the intruder, the property’s alarm system was been triggered on five other occasions. 

One call is logged as a phone request while the others are labelled ‘alarm activations’ and all occurred in the early hours of the morning.

The Chumash made contact with the first Spanish European settlers in the area in 1542, and Spain would settle the area in 1770 causing a great upheaval for the natives. 

While there is still no official confirmation the location of the remains indicate they could be Chumash in origin. The Chumash people have roots in the area stretching back 11,000 years

Today there are 5,000 Chumash members remaining

Mexico would seize the area in 1834 causing further disruption, driving even more Chumash off the land before America seized the area for itself in 1848.

In 1855 a piece of land was set aside in the area for the remaining 100 Chumash known to live there, with an official reservation established in 1901. 

Today there are an estimated 5,000 Chumash members. 

Chumash means ‘bead maker’ in the group’s native language.