HILLSBORO (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies say they had no problem figuring out the purpose of the hole in the ground 6 feet long, 2 to 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep.

What they don’t understand is for whom the grave was intended.

For the moment, they’re holding 63-year-old Ronald Karel on charges of trespassing and criminal mischief. But they’ve asked for a high bail, $20,000, because of their worries.

They say that to their knowledge nobody who knows Karel is dead or missing.

But they’re concerned about the hole in the ground in a remote part of Washington County that they say can’t be anything other than a grave.

Deputies said Karel told them he dug it to look for ash from the eruption of Mount St. Helens more than 27 years ago.

But the authorities aren’t buying it.