Hunt: More bones recovered where skull was found

February 22, 2012

By COLLEEN MCCARTHY
sdnedu@bellsouth.net

More skeletal remains were recovered from the same area near Reed Road in Adaton where sheriff’s deputies recovered a skull last week.
The Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office received a call at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 from a citizen who found the remains in a heavily wooded area.
Members of the Mississippi State Anthropology Department assisted in the search and helped recover a jaw bone and other small bones Tuesday.
“They have been a tremendous help,” Coroner Michael Hunt said. “It appears they’ve found all that’s going to be found. They did a grid search (Tuesday) and only found a couple more bones.”
Hunt said the bones will be sent to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory for DNA testing.
“They’ll be tested and analyzed against whatever missing persons we have from the Starkville area,” he said.
Despite putting a rush on the testing, Hunt said it could take several weeks to a month before the investigators receive the test results. Though investigators believe the bones may belong to a local missing person, an official identification will not be made until the DNA tests are concluded.
At this point in the investigation, it does not appear the person’s death was the result of foul play, Hunt said.
“Once we know who it is, it will give us a little bit better idea as to what happened. But at this point, there is no indication of trauma whatsoever,” Hunt said.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call OCSO at 662-323-2421 or Golden Triangle Crimestoppers at 1-800-530-7151.