Carpenter hides a skeleton surprise for future homeowners during kitchen renovation

One carpenter finally got the chance to pull off an epic prank that he's been dreaming of for years. Cole Henderson, the lead carpenter for Callier & Thompson—a remodeling company in Manchester, Missouri—came across the perfect opportunity to execute a prank involving a kitchen renovation and a skeleton. A homeowner in St. Louis agreed to let him hide a skeleton in unused cabinet space for future homeowners or demo crews to uncover. Speaking to TODAY Parents about the hilarious prank, Henderson revealed that he was inspired by a meme he saw in a construction group.

"The original meme just had a skeleton, so I decided to throw my work uniform on it," Henderson explained. "20 or 30 years down the road when that gets remodeled, it will give somebody a jump scare." Henderson's antics went viral on social media after it was shared on Facebook by Bob Strate, president and co-owner of Callier & Thompson. "Our production team likes to have a good laugh whenever possible. The Lead Carpenter, Cole Henderson thought it would be funny to hide a fake skeleton inside a closed island cabinet. Whoever remodels this kitchen many years down the road will have a great surprise during the demo phase of the project," the post reads. "The clients were in on the joke as well. Wouldn't it be great to see their reaction?"

Henderson revealed that he discussed the prank with the homeowner prior to buying the skeleton—who has been nicknamed Skelly—and received their permission before hiding Skelly in the kitchen. "They think it's just as funny as everyone else," he said. Strate revealed that it isn't unusual for workers to find "time capsules" or "little odds and ends" while working on projects. "We did a job not that long ago on a house that was built in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and there was a newspaper inside the wall," he said. "Last year we did a job and we found naked pictures."

Another person involved in the prank is Henderson's 3-year-old son, Adrian, who is a big fan of all things Halloween. "The day that I went and picked up the skeleton and brought him home, my 3-year-old son basically made friends with the skeleton the night before I took him to the job site," the carpenter shared. In fact, Adrian developed such a strong bond with Skelly while watching television and hanging out together that his parents got him his own bony buddy to take on adventures. "He got pretty attached," the boy's mom, Dallas Henderson, said of Adrian's short-lived relationship with Skelly. "So he needed his own."

Meanwhile, Henderson plans to seal Skelly inside the island with a note for whoever finds it before the kitchen renovation is completed in a few weeks. "I'm looking forward to 30 years from now, seeing this on the news, sitting back in my chair and laughing," he said.