HERNANDO, Miss. (abc24.com) - Investigators are searching for clues after human remains were found in a rural area of Desoto County on January 31, 2012.
Deputies said the body could have been there for months, and they don't know if the body is that of a man or woman. But, they do suspect foul play.
A land owner and a surveyor were walking in a wooded area off Highway 301 when they found the human remains. The Desoto County Sheriff's spokesperson, Richard Hackett, called the location more than suspicious.
"There's thousands of acres back there, some fields, soy beans, wooded, but the remains were found in a wooded area," he said. "The remains are in an area and that makes it difficult to gather evidence, but that's what the investigators do and that's what they do well."
At this time there are no sign of obvious trauma to the skull, but the sheriff's office believes someone tried to hide that body. The first step in the investigation is to figure out who it was.
Hackett stated, "Not only do we have missing persons, other counties in the surrounding area have missing persons. All agencies will be interested; this is a remote and unique area in Desoto County, so you can start drawing conclusions in your mind."
To speed up identification, Desoto County Sheriff Bill Rasco said they are sending the remains to a private lab, which should have an ID within five days.
