Deputies Investigate Possible Human Remains Found In Pawnee County

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Remains found in a heavily wooded area of Pawnee County will be taken to a lab to determine if they are those of a person.

Deputies say in the meantime, they’ll look through missing persons cases from that area.

The Sheriff’s Office says the OSBI and the medical examiner have finished processing the scene for Friday.

Investigators believe they found a skull and other bones - but are still waiting to say if they’re human or not.

The Sheriff’s Office received a call around noon on Friday from a hunter scouting a heavily wooded area southeast of Cleveland near Highway 64 in Pawnee County, who believed that he stumbled upon human remains.

Deputies say it is private property, and the owner is out of town, but he gave permission for that hunter to look around.

Investigators had to use ATVs to get to the scene because the woods were so thick.

“It’s really heavily wooded," Nick Mahoney with the Sheriff's Office said. "This is an area that does not see a lot of human activity very often, very heavy terrain, it’s right up against the lake, so lots of rocks, lots of creek beds.”

While they wait for confirmation, Sheriff Darrin Varnell says they’ll start reviewing missing persons cases from this area.

 “There’s a couple of missing person's cases that I can think of, one that we started—it’s been roughly two years, and then there’s another one we’ve got that is 2014, 2015,” he said.

People who live nearby say they're shocked to hear about the discovery.

Quentin Wills has lived here for 14 years and says it’s usually quiet around here.

“It’s crazy that they’re sitting in my yard; that’s what’s crazy,” he said. “It’s usually pretty quiet. Nothing really happens. Most of the families who live out here have lived out here for a while.”

The sheriff says there is no timetable on how long it will take investigators to determine if those remains are human.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.