GBI investigates human remains found in Crawford

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is working to collect and identify human remains discovered by a hunter who was scouting some land Sunday afternoon in Crawford County.

Scattered bones were discovered in a heavily wooded area about a mile off Old Knoxville Road, said J.T. Ricketson, the GBI's special agent in charge.

"We're now basically on hands and knees and sifting through," Ricketson said. "Right now we've collected about 90 percent of the skeleton. ... I'm actually very surprised considering most of the time ... you only find, you know, 20 to 30 percent of the skeleton."

The cause of death is not yet known.

Ricketson said he suspects the body had been decomposing for longer than a few months, but he could not speculate about the length of time. The bones are believed to be scattered from the elements.

"I'm very hopefully we have enough dental from the jaw bone that we'll be able to take that and make comparisons," Ricketson said. "We will be looking at Crawford, Peach, Bibb, any of the surrounding areas if they've had any missing persons cases or anything like that."

Although the bones are suspected of belonging to a man, Ricketson said they will be sent to the GBI crime lab to determine the person's sex.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 3:29 PM with the headline "GBI investigates human remains found in Crawford ."