Human remains found by Firefly Music Festival fan

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw footage: Human remains found by Firefly fan Investigators remove a body Friday afternoon where someone attending Firefly Music Festival found human skeletal remains near Leipsic Road and Marley Lane in Dover Thursday night.

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Police are investigating after someone attending Firefly Music Festival found human skeletal remains in the area Thursday night, according to Delaware State Police.

At about 7 p.m. Thursday, the opening half-day of the festival in the sprawling grounds near Dover International Speedway, someone walking through the wooded area east of Leipsic Road near Marley Lane discovered the remains, police said. The person contacted troopers, who responded and confirmed them as human skeletal remains.

The remains were found about a half-mile from Firefly’s main entrance, not far from an area used for parking and a few campsites on private property.

The identity of the deceased is unknown, police said.

The investigation is in its early stages, and troopers continue to work on the scene.

Human remains found by Firefly fan Police are investigating after someone attending Firefly Music Festival found human skeletal remains in the area Thursday night, according to Delaware State Police.

Inside Firefly, the news of the grisly discover went virtually unnoticed.

Most of the roughly 90,000 festival-goers come from out of town and were too busy enjoying the show to check local media outlets.

Firefly also did not send out any push alerts through the mobile app most visitors rely on for updates and schedules.

“I’m extremely surprised,” said Kyla Beckvermit, an 18-year-old from Cornwall, New York. “I’m definitely concerned. It would have been nice to know.”

Her friend Gabby Wheeler, a 24-year-old from Wheeler, New York, was more intrigued than alarmed.

“I watch a lot of missing people videos on YouTube,” she said. “If they said it was skeletal remains, that probably means the body has been there awhile. But it’s weird that it was so close.”

The Woodlands are owned by Dover International Speedway, and the area where the body was found is also close to where NASCAR fans camped two weeks earlier.

But David Lembeck, a 19-year-old from Ramsey, New Jersey, said there’s no way to know if the corpse is related to either event.

“I doubt it’s related,” he said after being told the news. “I feel like we’re close to the boonies of Delaware so who knows how it got there.”

Robert Widder, a 22-year-old from Bel Air, Maryland, said he was concerned about the deceased person’s family, but not his own safety.

“There are just so many people around at all times,” he said. “And, you know, if you see something, say something. I have confidence in my fellow man.”

Richard Bratz, a public information officer with Delaware State Police said in an emailed statement Friday night that the investigation has been turned over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. More information, he said, will be released when made available.

Anyone with any information in reference to this incident is asked to contact Detective D. Blomquist at (302) 698-8426. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333, via the internet at www.delaware.crimestoppersweb.com or by sending an anonymous tip by text to 274637 (CRIMES) using the keyword “DSP.”

This story contains information from the Associated Press.