The case of a mysterious human finger found in a Tacoma driveway earlier this month has been solved and the digit has been returned to its rightful owner.

During the afternoon of July 5, Tacoma Police Department (TPD) officers responded to a report of a finger found in a driveway in the 800 block of South Pine Street, according to a statement TPD Public Information Officer Detective William Muse sent to MyNorthwest.

Muse provided an update in a statement to MyNorthwest Thursday that a person “saw the story” and called the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, which had taken custody of the digit, to claim the finger.

The man identified himself by his surname and admitted to losing multiple digits “messing around with some fireworks.” Muse didn’t provide the identity of the man who claimed the finger in his statement. He did explain the latent prints on the recovered finger correspond with the information about the person available in the FBI database.

…

In his July 5 update, Muse told MyNorthwest there was no blood around the finger and it appeared to have been, possibly, left on the property by an animal, perhaps a bird.

…

Calls were made to local hospitals, Muse added. But they didn’t report anyone being treated over the Fourth of July holiday for any sort of dismembering injury.