A California man accused of triggering panic with a scary teddy bear that resembled bloody human flesh has been arrested, as authorities now accuse him of staging a twisted hoax.
Scary teddy bear terrorizes onlookers
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, 23-year-old Hector Corona Villanueva was taken into custody on Monday.
He faces charges of initiating a false emergency and fabricating evidence after deputies responded to what appeared to be a human remains discovery in the Mojave Desert town of Victorville.
The bizarrely scary teddy bear, spotted near a bus stop close to a gas station on Bear Valley Road, had reportedly alarmed both a customer and an employee on Sunday afternoon.
Initial reports described a disturbing scene involving a doll that resembled something “made of human skin.”
A deputy coroner investigator responded to the site just after noon to determine the nature of the object.
Authorities later confirmed that the so-called “human skin bear” was not of human origin.
A forensic pathologist examined the material and found no human tissue present.
“Our investigation found these dolls being sold on a website with the claim that the dolls are ‘made of human skin,’” the coroner’s statement noted.
Sheriff’s officials made it clear that the prank had serious consequences.
“Incidents such as this take up valuable emergency resources and put the public at risk, possibly delaying response time to legitimate calls for service,” the department said.
Authorities believe Villanueva planted the scary teddy bear in a public location to disturb onlookers.
Though he did not personally report the find, officials said the bear’s unsettling design provoked real concern.
Creator of scary teddy bear comes forward
As news of the terrifying find spread, South Carolina artist Robert Kelly, who operates Dark Seed Creations, stepped forward to identify the bear as an item he made.
Kelly confirmed he had crafted and sold the item via Etsy to a buyer in Victorville—matching the location of the incident.
“I made the order, put it in a box, sent it out and according to tracking, it was delivered (to Victorville) on the 12th,” Kelly said. “And then on the 13th, last night, I started getting all kinds of messages.”
Authorities have not said whether Kelly faces any liability. He stated the product is made from latex, not real human tissue, despite its disturbing appearance.
While Victorville residents were recovering from that unsettling episode, a separate discovery in Washington State horrified the man who found it.
Kevin Ewing, a father from Tacoma, was taking a Father’s Day stroll with his family through Dash Point State Park when he stumbled upon a suspicious package on the beach.
“I found what looked like a little Christmas package in a little square box wrapped in green cloth and yellow string,” Ewing said.
Christmas package turns out to be human toe
Initially believing it could be a prayer box or a lost item washed ashore, he opened the small bundle.
What he found shocked him to the core: a mutilated human toe.
“At first I was very shocked, and it took me a few minutes to kind of be like, ‘is this what I think it is?’” he recalled.
“Then once it dawned on me that that’s what it was, I set everything down.”
Ewing noticed a dead seagull lying nearby, which added to the disturbing scene.
At first, he thought the toe may have belonged to the bird, but further inspection revealed it was unmistakably human.
“You know, a lot of things are going through my head like, ‘Where is the rest of the body?’” he said.
“Did this wash in from the tide, from the water? Did somebody leave this here intentionally to be found?”
After photographing the grotesque object, Ewing and his wife notified a park ranger.
Washington State Patrol (WSP) responded quickly and began looking into whether the discovery might be tied to a missing person or homicide case.
Trooper Rick Johnson confirmed that alerts were sent to law enforcement agencies across the state.
The severed toe was delivered to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, where DNA testing was conducted to determine its origin.
Alongside the toe, another piece of organic tissue was found inside the box.
The severed digit appeared to be from an adult male, according to incident reports.
On Friday, Public Health – Seattle & King County announced the findings: the toe had been medically amputated and was not associated with a criminal death.
As a result, officials said no further investigation would take place and the case had been closed.
