A group of hunters stumbled on suspected human remains at a rural location, south of the Town of Elk Point on Nov. 12. At about 11 a.m., Elk Point RCMP were contacted by the hunters on the discovery of what is suspected to be a human skull located near the North Saskatchewan River, according to a RCMP press release. The remains were decomposed and appeared to have been exposed to the outdoors for a long period of time.
The area was secured, and Const. John Spaans with the Elk Point RCMP said that RCMP, along with volunteer search and rescue teams from St. Paul, Bonnyville, Cold Lake and Edmonton, conducted thorough searches on Nov. 16 and discovered more suspected human remains.
The Medical Examiner’s Office in Edmonton was slated to do an examination on Monday, Nov. 15. If the remains are determined to be human, the forensic anthropologist investigating will often be able to determine the age, sex and the ethnicity of the person, said Spaans. If the remains that RCMP are found are associated with the skull, then it may also be possible to determine the height and weight of the person, and the length of time the body has been outdoors, he said.
The investigation into the matter is ongoing, with Elk Point RCMP still waiting, as of Monday morning, to find out the results of the medical examination.
