A grim scene unfolded not far from Taylor Swift’s Holiday House on the morning of May 14.
Westerly, R.I. police confirm to PEOPLE that what appeared to be human remains were found in the Watch Hill area, the affluent enclave where the singer’s seaside mansion is located.
Officers that arrived to the scene on Everett Avenue around 9:30 a.m. uncovered “what appeared to be a human leg bone,” according to a statement shared with PEOPLE. The remains were transported to the Rhode Island Medical Examiner’s Office for analysis.
“Investigators are awaiting official confirmation of the identity of the remains,” the statement continues. No foul play is suspected at this time.
Image courtesy of The Ocean House.
A resident who spoke to the local news outlet NBC10 WJAR, Taylor Day, said she saw “three police cars, one undercover . . . and there was a medical examiner pulling in behind me.” She added, “It kind of alarmed me, and it was just something very out of the ordinary for Westerly.”
Day called out the proximity to Swift’s landmark home and the area’s most famous historic hotel.
“It was probably a couple football fields away from Taylor Swift’s house and the Ocean House,” she shared. “I would never expect anything like that—especially not in Watch Hill.”
Swift purchased her home for a reported $17.75 million in 2013, according to the New York Times, and has famously hosted Fourth of July parties there, attended by a bevy of celebrity friends, including Ed Sheeran, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, the Haim sisters, and Selena Gomez.
The affluent beach town is otherwise known for its Victorian-style homes and what the Times once dubbed a “strong sense of privacy.” High-profile visitors from Clark Gable and Henry Ford to Conan O’Brien and Hugh Jackman have spent time in the village.
High Watch, as Swift’s 1920s property was previously known, overlooks East Beach and the Atlantic Ocean and was notably once owned by Standard Oil heiress Rebekah West Harkness, the subject of Swift’s song “The Last Great American Dynasty.”
