Authorities are investigating the bear, which was discovered outside a store in Victorville, California, on Sunday, July 13
- A “human skin teddy bear” that was left outside a convenience store in California was likely just a prank, despite authorities investigating the incident, according to reports
- South Carolina artist, Robert Kelly of Dark Seed Creations, has said the bear was made by his company and is currently being sold online for $165, per KABC
- The artist confirmed on Facebook that he’d shipped a bear to a customer in Victorville, where the item was found, last week, adding that he was not involved in the prank, nor did he have “knowledge of the buyer’s intentions”
A “human skin teddy bear” that was discovered outside a convenience store in California over the weekend was likely placed there as a prank, despite police launching an investigation, according to reports.
On Sunday, July 13, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of possible human remains found outside an AMPM store at a gas station in the 13600 block of Bear Valley Road in the city of Victorville, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported, citing police spokesperson Mara Rodriguez.
“A coroner investigator has taken possession of the object, and the investigation is continuing,” Rodriguez said, per the outlet.
Footage obtained by KTLA showed that authorities had cordoned off the parking lot while the coroner investigator looked at the bear, which had been left just outside the store’s entrance, the outlet noted.
Despite the ongoing investigation, the bear is actually made out of latex and is currently being sold online, described as a “human skin teddy bear,” for $165, ABC-affiliated station KABC noted.
South Carolina artist Robert Kelly of Dark Seed Creations is now taking credit for the work, confirming in an email to PEOPLE that he’d shipped one of the bears to a customer in Victorville last week.
Kelly said he’d “started getting tons of messages and calls from people telling us about the incident” after the reports made headlines.
“Our work is pretty easily recognizable and people were sending the articles left and right. I looked and sure enough it was the bear I sent out last week,” Kelly continued to PEOPLE. “Every artist wants credit [for] their work, so I said ‘I made that’ and haven’t been able to catch up with messages since.”
Kelly added to ABC7 Eyewitness News, “I guess I’d probably be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it a little bit. I’m an independent artist…so, a little attention is sometimes good regardless of not being able to condone whatever.”
“I don’t know if the guy broke any laws or [if] it was just a prank, but it looks like he definitely got some people riled up,” the artist — who specializes in horror special effects and haunted attractions — added, according to the outlet.
The artist posted a video of the bears in question on Facebook on Sunday, writing that his work had been “used in a prank.”
“No I did not have any knowledge of the [buyer’s] intentions nor was I involved in a prank on the other side of the nation from me,” the artist wrote, adding that anybody can still order one of the bears online.
“One of [the] things that we’re known for is that we make a lot of these props that are fake human skin,” Kelly shared, per KTLA.
“So, those are all made out of latex. They’re created from a mold. Our stuff is pretty recognizable in the industry. So, once this happened a few hours ago, my phone started blowing up, Facebook started blowing up,” he told the publication.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information