Rows of plastic skulls sit on shelves at the Bone Clones offices in Chatsworth, California. (Photo Provided)

ELKINS — The California manufacturer of a realistic-looking plastic skull — that was discovered in Tucker County this summer and initially believed by authorities to be an actual human skull – has confirmed that the horror movie prop came from their warehouse.

A representative from the company Bone Clones reached out to The Inter-Mountain this week after reading stories about the skull online. Jeff Shaw, Bone Clones’ product manager, confirmed that the skull was created by his company, which is based in Chatsworth, California.

“That skull that was found in Tucker County was one of several that was purchased from our company,” said Shaw. “This is the first time we ever heard mention of any of our products in a newspaper form. People are always telling us that our skulls look just like the real thing, but once they are put through an x-ray machine, they realize they are plastic.”

On July 30, hikers at Douglas Falls in Tucker County discovered what was first thought to be a human skull in the water. The skull seemed so much like the real thing that the Tucker County Sheriff Department sent the discovery to the state medical examiner’s office in Charleston.

Soon after it arrived at its destination, the medical examiner determined that the skull was fake and that it had been constructed from some type of plastic. It was later learned that the skull was one of many props used for the horror movie “Tie Die,” part of which had been shot in the area around Douglas Falls.

Shaw said a Bone Clones motto is “only Mother Nature does it better.”

“That tagline is kind of suitable when people do find them,” Shaw said with a chuckle. “We do a lot of business all over the world for teaching, movies and other things.

“Our skulls are not like the skulls you see in stores during Halloween, they’re a lot more detailed. So, they are used in school settings, universities and colleges.

“I can definitely see if one was found in the woods, and especially if it had been out there for a while, how someone would think it was real. We make them realistic, not necessarily for the movie purposes, but teaching purposes.”

Shaw said all of the skulls and bones created by Bone Clones are made from polyurethane.

“Polyurethanes are a two-part mixture, the activator and the resin,” he said. “So, we custom formulate it so that it gets into all the crevices of the mold, so you get some extra detail.”

Some of the movies and television shows that have used Bone Clones’ products in the past include the series “Bones” and the Quentin Tarantino movie “Django Unchained.”

“We are right here in Los Angeles and there is a lot of movie action going on here, so we do a lot of business with movies,” Shaw said. “The show ‘Bones’ gets all their material from us, and we did a prop for ‘Django Unchained’ where there’s a scene where (Leonardo DiCaprio) has a skull at a table talking about it.”

Bone Clones, which first opened in 1993, replicates skulls and skeletons of humans, animals, and endangered species. To learn more, visit boneclones.com.