A secondary search turns up more bones where Hunt County located a possible human skull Saturday afternoon

A press release issued by Hunt County Sheriff’s Office over the weekend stated possible human remains were located on County Road 1060, just off of FM 1569.

Most of you have heard by now about the believed to be human skull that was located on County Road 1060, Saturday afternoon, in the Hunt County area. The Hunt County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Monday stating:

On January 23, 2022 the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office conducted a secondary search in the area of county road 1060, where a possible human skull was found the previous day.

The Hunt County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the East Texas Community Emergency Response Team (ETX CERT) and Mark9 Search and Rescue. Cadaver dogs assisted in locating more of what appear to be human remains.

These remains will also be sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification.

This is an ongoing investigation and Hunt County Sheriff Terry Jones urges anyone with information to contact the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office at 903-453-6838.

END OF PRESS RELEASE

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Many of you may be wondering what’s next?

The discovery of skeletal remains prompts immediate questions: Are they human? If so, was the person male or female? How old was the person at death? How long has the person been dead? What was the most probable cause of death? Forensic pathologists, coroners, and police officers usually are not properly trained to recover and analyze skeletal remains. The forensic anthropologist is best suited to recover and examine these remains and provide answers to these questions.

Because forensic anthropologists are familiar with the human skeleton, their assistance is invaluable in the recovery of skeletal remains. The most common situation where skeletal remains are found is the surface scatter, which occurs when a body is dumped on the ground and the remains are scattered by animals over a wide area. The forensic anthropologist can determine at the scene which remains are nonhuman and which are human, saving investigators’ time. If the remains are buried, archaeological methods are used to ensure that the amount and quality of remains recovered are of the highest standard.

After the remains have been recovered in the field, they usually are transported to a medical examiner’s office or other laboratory facility for examination. The remains are described as found, and if necessary, cleaned and prepared before examination. For each set of human remains, forensic anthropologists attempt to provide a general physical description of the following factors:

1. Gender
2. Age at death
3. Race
4. Height

They also try to determine whether the bones provide evidence of the cause of death, to identify any individualistic features in the skeleton, and to estimate the time since death.

Establishing Individual Identity

The preferred method for establishing the identity of skeletal remains is by dental identification. If the anthropologist’s general description of the deceased matches the description of a missing person, we then ask the missing person’s dentist to provide dental charts and radiographs for comparison.

A forensic odontologist (dentist) then compares the data to either rule out that the remains belonged to the missing person or confirm that the unknown and the records represent the same individual. In some cases, the teeth or skull may be missing, requiring alternatives to a dental identification. Postmortem radiographs can be compared with antemortem radiographs, if available. Cranial anatomy, especially the sinus form can be compared. Chest radiographs often show some of the vertebral detail. Evidence of healed fractures or medical implants may be used to confirm identity. Photographic or video superimposition can be used to superimpose the unknown skull and a portrait of an individual to see if they “fit” anatomically.

Advances in DNA technology are making it possible to extract DNA from human bones. This allows them compare the DNA from skeletal remains with the DNA of family members when having an idea who the victim is, but more traditional methods of identification are not available due to incomplete remains, etc.

So now we wait, will this bring closure to one of our Hunt County missing persons cold cases? We all hope and pray it will.

We will keep you updated on the latest information released on this story!