Melissa Atkinson was setting up the campsite in East Grand Forks with her husband, Monty, about 4 p.m. Thursday when their 6-year-old daughter said, "Mom, there's something gross on the bench."

Melissa went over to take a look and figured it was some type of animal feces. But when she saw what was on the bench, she called over Monty.

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"Can you come over and look at this and tell me if I'm seeing what I'm seeing?" Melissa asked Monty.

"Yeah, you're seeing what you're seeing," Monty said.

There were two severed fingers attached to each other sitting on the bench that looked like they had been there for a while and been in some dirt.

"It's just weird because they didn't look like an animal had chewed on them," Melissa said. "But they looked like they were dry."

The couple went to notify the managers of the campground, and then they called police, who responded to the campsite at Red River State Recreation Area.

"The guy comes out and says, 'I've never had a call like this before,' " Melissa said.

East Grand Forks Police investigated the scene and are now having a medical examiner test the fingers to find out where they came from and who they possibly belong to, Detective Tony Hart confirmed. The investigation is still in the early stages, and there weren't any updates as of Friday afternoon.

Melissa and Monty Atkinson, who are from Lonsdale, Minn., had brought their 6- and 8-year-old children to East Grand Forks for a camping trip over the holiday weekend. But after finding the fingers, they realized they "can't stay here," Melissa said.

The family stayed the night at a hotel Thursday, but by Friday, they decided to go camping in Warren, Minn., instead. Considering how bizarre the situation is, the family has tried to make light of it.

"Today, of course, it's all about finger jokes," Melissa said.

The family began telling people from back home about what they found. They wonder if their third child, who didn't come on the camping trip, will even believe them.

"We have the camping story to beat everybody else's camping story for the rest of our lives," Melissa said.