Grave mistake: 'Casket' seen in river turns out to be dock

CORRECTS DAY TO THURSDAY, SEPT. 3, 2020 - A hydrographic operations team pulls what turned out to be a floating dock from the South River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis, Md., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020. The agency was investigating reports from community members who thought they saw a casket bobbing up and down in the river. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources via AP) (Uncredited)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. ā€“ Police in Maryland investigating reports of a casket photographed bobbing up and down in a river discovered the object was something far less macabre.

A post to a local radio stationā€™s Facebook page Tuesday showed a rectangular object with flat sides and a curved top floating in the South River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis.

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The concrete slab, resembling a coffin, sparked complaints of a possible hazard in the water, The Capital Gazette reported.

Department of Natural Resources police were dispatched to the river, where a hydrographic operations team helped pull what turned out to be a floating dock from the water, according to the agency.