Police investigating dead seal found with sign at side of road

A mystery is unfolding in Providence, Rhode Island, where a man discovered a dead seal with a handwritten sign saying: "Free Seal: (To a good home, naps a lot, housebroken)", on the side of the road.



"Our doorbell was being rung and we came outside and the police officers questioned us," said Matthew Smith. And Smith was not expecting anything like this outside his Providence apartment. "Maybe a dead skunk, but not a seal," Smith said.

Mystic Aquarium officials say the 65 pound yearling female Harp seal was dead when it arrived on the side of the road, because they saw it stranded on a beach a pretty good distance away and catalogued it according to a distinct spot on its left foreflipper.



Aquarium officials will not reveal specifically where they originally found the dead seal, so it does not compromise any potential criminal investigation. But they say "it raised eyebrows" when they saw just how far it went. They also will not say how long ago the seal died.

With news video.