COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — An Iowa man’s online classified ad offering an oak coffin for sale neglected to mention the full skeleton inside, so police interrupted the deal and seized the bones. The coffin belonged to the now-defunct Council Bluffs chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows, which promotes anonymous giving to the poor.

Dave Burgstrum placed the ad on the Craigslist website to sell the coffin for $12,000 because he’s trying to raise money to pay the property taxes on the fraternal organization’s hall.

Burgstrum said the coffin was made in the 1900s and had been used in the group’s rituals to represent death. The bones had been in there for years.

The skeleton was sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner. Burgstrum said the laboratory is welcome to keep the skeleton. His interest has always been in selling the coffin.