What was first thought to be a teddy bear made of human skin, found outside a convenience store in Victorville, California, last weekend, was finally discovered to be a toy made of latex. South Carolina artist Robert Kelly lays claim to creating the bear through his company, Dark Seed Creations, which sells the item online at his store for $165. The independent horror FX artist Kelly has been rendering props like this bear for nearly two decades; his company is known for its realistic human skin props.
When the latex ‘toy’ was found on July 13th, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of possible human remains found outside an AMPM store. Broadcast footage showed that authorities cordoned off the parking lot, while the county coroner investigator checked over the bear. The Victorville sheriff’s department has made further claims to having found a possible suspect who may be believed to have left the latex bear. This person was arrested and booked on suspicion of “causing the report of an emergency while knowing it to be false” as well as the charge of “intentionally and wrongfully planting evidence to falsely present as real.”
Kelly says he shipped a latex bear to a customer in the Southern CA town, unaware of what the buyer was going to do with it.
So, it seems latex can cause controversy even when it isn’t being worn by some super sexy celebrity going out of his or her way to show off taut body parts or bodacious curves across a red carpet. Or not only in a wildly inventive video clip or part of onstage costume couture. Or favorite textile can be rendered into horror movie props or bespoke items delivered to who-knows-who for what nefarious purpose, even if that purpose is to throw a little scare into their local citizenry.
