SOUTH BEND — What started as a call to report a dead body in Riverview Cemetery (above the ground, that is) ended with a few laughs Tuesday night.

Police and fire crews rushed to the cemetery near Portage Avenue and Lathrop Street shortly after 7:15 p.m. after a woman on cross country skis reported what she thought was a dead body on a park bench near the St. Joseph River.

When responders trekked the width of the cemetery through the snow and lifted the hat off the body, they discovered a pumpkin in place of its head. Its legs were stuffed with straw. It was, in fact, a dummy, South Bend fire Capt. Tom Pennino said.

The woman called authorities without approaching the body — an understandable course of action, Pennino said. The items likely were discarded Halloween decorations, he said.

Courtesy of The South Bend Tribune