A student reportedly baked her late grandmother's ashes into cookies and handed them out at her high school in Davis, California, for people to eat. The alleged incident at Da Vinci Charter Academy is under investigation. Neither the school nor the Davis Joint Unified School District has given details of what exactly they think happened. FOX40 reported the story after a student, who did not want to be named, and his family came forward to tell the news station about the cookies. "This girl is going around telling everyone, basically at this point, that she had brought in these cookies to school with human ashes in them," the student told FOX40. The Davis Police Department, school principal Tyler Millsap and the Davis Joint Unified School District did not immediately respond to Newsweek's requests for comment. According to FOX40, the boy learned of the cookie incident when school officials questioned him about eating one. He made and signed a statement and was told not to tell anyone. Police are investigating the incident. "This is a weird one," Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doroshov told CBS13. "I have not heard of anyone getting sick or anybody being harmed, as far as physically, physiologically, by this." Investigators are not sure if there is any crime for which those responsible could be charged. "This is so unconventional, it would take more research," Doroshov said. According to WCMH, at least nine students ate the potentially contaminated batch of sugar cookies. Two students may be involved in making the cookies, which are yet to be tested. "While we cannot comment on confidential student matters, I can tell you that the physical and social-emotional safety of our students is our first priority," said a statement from the school district, according to FOX40. "We take all allegations of wrongdoing seriously and we conduct thorough investigations and involve the police when appropriate," the statement continued. "When wrongdoing is found to have occurred, disciplinary measures are applied and at the same time measures are taken to repair the harm within the community. "This case has been particularly challenging and we have responded appropriately and in the most respectful and dignified way possible," the statement said.<doc-sep>Does this mean that a bunch of high school kids are now cannibals? Technically, yes: They have eaten human remains. If the girl who baked her grandfather into the cookies ate one, this would make her an endocannibal — someone who eats the remains of a relative or fellow tribesperson. According to Margaret Visser’s book “The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table Manners,” endocannabalism has been practiced by ancient tribes throughout history, who “can, and indeed must, ‘take in’ the life essence of a dead fellow tribesman by eating him after he has died a natural death. Failure to eat a dead parent might mean poor health, or barrenness, or weak children, since the life essence has not been ‘topped up’ properly by the living members of the tribe.” The excerpt notes that endocannibals typically do not eat flesh; they grind up bones and ash and drink them or eat them “with, say, a mashed banana.”<doc-sep>Parents are perturbed and a school is investigating after allegations students at a Northern California high school distributed cookies that may have contained the ash remains of one of their grandfathers. A school resource officer at Da Vinci Charter Academy High School in Davis, California, was first alerted on Oct. 4 to the alleged incident, in which two students distributed the cookies to nine others before the ghastly ingredient was revealed. Police were contacted by "a few" parents expressing concern their children could have been affected, authorities said. There have been no reports of students becoming ill after eating the cookies. The school is handling the investigation, while the school resource officer is assisting with any additional resources needed, Davis police told ABC News. "Students are safe and there is no health risk at the Da Vinci Charter campus or to anyone involved," the Davis Joint Unified School District said in a statement to ABC News. "This recent case has been particularly challenging and we have responded appropriately and in the most respectful and dignified way possible," the statement continued. "Those who were involved are remorseful and this is now a personal family matter." None of the cookies were available for authorities to test, police said. If parents come forward requesting a criminal investigation, officials will discuss it with the parents and minors involved, police said. Asked if he’d ever encountered anything like this before, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel told ABC News, "No. This one is new."<doc-sep>Hide Transcript Show Transcript WEBVTT >> I KNEW HER. I FIGURED IT IS A COOKIE, WHY NOT. MAX: DA VINCI HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR SAID HE WAS ONE OF NINE STUDENTS WHO 80 COOKIE GIVEN TO HIM BY ONE OF HIS PEERS. >> SHE TOLD ME THERE’S A SPECIAL INGREDIENT IN THE COOKIE. I HAD ASSUMED THAT SHE I WAS KIND OF WORRIED. I THOUGH THAT SHE PUT DRUGS IN IT OR SOMETHING. SO I ASKED HER IF LIKE IS THIS A WEED COOKIE OR SOMETHING? MAX: ANDY SAYS WHAT SHE REVEALED, HORRIFIED HIM. >> SHE SAID IT WAS HER GRANDPA’S ASHES. AND THEN SHE KIND OF LAUGHED. AND I WAS REALLY, I WAS KIND OF HORRIFIED. I COULD LOOK IN THE MIDDLE AND SEE JUST A LITTLE, FEW TINY GREY FLECKS MAX: DA VINCI HIGH SCHOOL DECLINED COMMENT, BUT RELEASED A STATEMENT, WHICH READS IN PART. THIS RECENT CASE HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING AND WE HAVE RESPONDED APPROPRIATELY AND IN THE MOST RESPECTFUL AND DIGNIFIED WAY POSSIBLE. THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED ARE REMORSEFUL AND THIS IS NOW A PERSONAL FAMILY MATTER. WE WANT TO RESPECT THE PRIVACY OF THE FAMILIES INVOLVED. DAVIS POLICE LIEUTENANT DOROSHOV SAYS THEY HAVE NOT TESTED ANY COOKIES. >> WE HAVE NOT TESTED ANY COOKIES TO KNOW IF THERE ARE REMAINS IN THERE. WE ARE BASING THIS ON STATEMENT. MAX: HE ADDS THAT CONSIDERING THE UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SCHOOL IS DOING A FAIRLY EFFECTIVE JOB HANDLING IT. >> WE HAVE TAKEN REPORT OF A PUBLIC NUISANCE. DOES THIS FIT INTO A CRIME OF ANY SORT? WE REALLY DON’T KNOW. THERE IS AN OBSCURE PENAL CODE SECTION ABOUT DISPOSING OF HUMAN REMAINS BUT I DON’T KNOW IF THAT FITS THIS BILL. MAX: HE HOPES THE GIRLS DECISION DOES NOT HAVE AN A LASTING IMPACT ON HER LIFE. Advertisement Grandfather’s ashes possibly baked into cookies given to Davis students Share Shares Copy Link Copy Davis police are investigating reports that two Da Vinci Charter Academy students brought cookies they baked containing one of their grandfather's cremated remains to school and gave them to nine other students.The sugar cookies were reportedly brought to school on Oct. 4, Davis police Lt. Paul Doroshov said. There were no reports of students getting physically ill from consuming the cookies, Doroshov said.Student Andy Knox said he was one of the students who was given a cookie.“Two weeks ago, I was just about to go into my sixth-period class, environmental science, and a girl who was also in the class stopped me and asked me if I wanted a cookie. And I knew her, so I figured, ‘It’s a cookie, why not?’” Knox said. “She told me there's a special ingredient in the cookie … I thought that she put drugs in it or something. So I asked her if like, ‘Is this a weed cookie or something?’ And she said ‘No.’ She said it was her grandpa's ashes. And then she kind of laughed. And I was really, I was kind of horrified.”Knox said the student who gave him the cookie had previously mentioned her grandfather’s ashes and had once offered to give him the ashes if he swapped seats with another student in class.“I didn’t believe her until she pulled out the urn,” he said.Police are investigating, but have been unable to prove that human remains were baked into the cookies.All of the information about the tampered cookies come from statements made by students. "We haven’t tested the actual cookies to physically know if there’s remains in there. We’re basing all of this on statement, basically," Doroshov said.Doroshov said a school resource officer is working with the school on an inquiry under the classification of public nuisance. The Davis Joint Unified School District released a statement that said:“While we cannot comment on confidential student matters, the physical and social-emotional safety of our students is always our first priority. Students are safe and there is no health risk at the Da Vinci Charter campus or to anyone involved.We take all allegations of wrongdoing seriously and we conduct thorough investigations and involve the police or other entities when appropriate. When wrongdoing is found to have occurred, disciplinary measures are applied and at the same time measures are taken to repair the harm within the community. This recent case has been particularly challenging and we have responded appropriately and in the most respectful and dignified way possible.Those who were involved are remorseful and this is now a personal family matter and we (all) want to respect the privacy of the families involved.”No other details have been released.<doc-sep>
A Davis high school student allegedly baked her grandfather’s ashes into a batch of sugar cookies and gave them to classmates, some of whom were aware they contained human remains before they ate them, authorities said Tuesday. A female student at Da Vinci Charter Academy, a public charter high school, brought the cookies to school on Oct. 4 and gave them to at least nine other students, said Davis Police Lt. Paul Doroshov. Some ate the cookies without knowing the extra ingredient and were horrified, he said. Others knew. “Some students knew beforehand and still consumed the cookies,” Doroshov said. Asked if the allegation seems credible, Doroshov gave a long sigh. “Yeah.” A school resource officer reported that two female students were involved in bringing the cookies to school, Doroshov said. Their relationship is unclear, but the girls are not siblings and the deceased man was the grandfather of only one of them, he said. Doroshov said police opened a case and have been trying to determine which penal code would apply to baking human remains into food. Officers considered a California penal code section regarding the disposal of human remains in an improper manner but public-nuisance charges might be more appropriate, he said. Authorities are working with the school to determine how best to proceed, he said. The students have been cooperating with the investigation, Doroshov said. Andy Knox, a student at the school, told KCRA-TV that he was just about to go into his environmental science class when a girl in the same class offered him a cookie. When she told him there was a special ingredient, he assumed it was marijuana. “I didn’t believe her until she pulled out the urn,” he said. Knox said that the cookie didn’t taste unusual but “if you ever ate sand as a kid, you know, you can kind of feel it crunching in between your teeth. So, there was a little tiny bit of that.” He said that the cookie contained “tiny gray flecks” and that the girl had once offered him the ashes if he switched seats with another student in the classroom. Da Vinci Charter Academy Principal Tyler Millsap said in a letter to parents that “this issue going on right now has been particularly challenging and our staff has responded appropriately and in the most respectful and dignified way possible for all the students and families involved.” Millsap said he regrets that the story “has been taken up by the media” and said that there is no health risk to any students. “I can say that those who were involved are remorseful and this is now a personal family matter and we want to respect the privacy of the families involved.” hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson