PAWNEE COUNTY, Okla. — The Pawnee County Sheriff's office said it and partner agencies found possible skeletal remains in a wilderness area southeast of Cleveland between Highway 64 and Keystone Lake Friday.
The unconfirmed human remains were found late in the morning by a hunter on private, undeveloped property an estimated half-mile from a dead end on South 13700 Road off U.S. Highway 64. The hunter was confirmed to know the property owner who lives out of state.
The owner was audibly shocked on the phone when talking to the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Undersheriff Nick Mahoney said.
“Anything’s possible, especially in areas that a human hasn’t been in, you know, 15 or 20 years," Mahoney said.
The wooded area is described by the PCSO as completely undeveloped so crews had to take ATVs and chainsaws just to get to the location where the hunter found them.
Sheriff Darrin Varnell said the finding will mean his office will reevaluate missing persons cases in the area.
“One that we started that's been just over two years, and then there's another one we've got that is 2014/2015 that were both right here in the Cleveland area," he said. "Hopefully we can bring closure to at least one family."
Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation but will pass along evidence to OSBI. Peninsula Volunteer Fire and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also assisted in search efforts.
Sheriff Varnell added it’s now up to the medical examiner to confirm if the remains are real, who they belong to, and how long they had been waiting to be found.
Lab results could take weeks to months, he said.
“I have 100% faith in OSBI and the medical examiner to get that done," the sheriff said.
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