Coffin Conversations - by dementia

A man who bought a barbecue smoker at an auction of abandoned items in North Carolina made a gruesome discovery inside it - a wrapped-up human leg.

Investigators were able to track the item - which had been left at a storage facility - back to its original owner, Peg Steele, who said her son had lost his leg in a plane crash but kept the amputated limb for "religious reasons."

"The family was very much against it," she said.

The phone calls one La Porte senior citizen has been getting lately go way beyond the usual solicitations for carpet cleaning or satellite TV.

The 75-year old La Porte man told La Porte City Police Friday that he received two prank calls this week that got a little graphic.

He said he received the first call Thursday. An unknown male called and informed him he had just won a sum of money. In order to claim the prize, he was instructed to call another number. When he called the number, he learned it was a sex line.

The next morning, the man told police he received another phone call, this time from a female. The caller reportedly informed the man that she suspected her husband of being gay and wanted him to talk to the husband.

The man told police he suspects the culprits of the strange calls might be teenagers.

A thief visited a home in New Zealand twice in one day - first to steal and then to return the goods with an apology note.

Graeme Glass of Queenstown noticed his window was smashed and feared the worst. But when he got inside, he discovered a pile of his stuff on the kitchen table, along with goods the burglar bought using Glass' credit card.

Attached was a handwritten note which read, "From the bottom of my heart I am sorry for violating the safety and security of your home."