Authorities leading the death investigation hope to not only uncover the identity of the person whose remains were found but also explain how they died, as the skull had been padlocked to a dumbbell found at the bottom of the bayou.
A Louisiana man made an unexpected discovery earlier this month when he found human remains in a local bayou, authorities said.
Investigators with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) are now working to try and determine whose remains were found that day by the man magnetic fishing in Bayou St. John.
Authorities leading the death investigation hope to not only uncover the identity of the person whose remains were found but also explain how they died, as the skull had been padlocked to a dumbbell found at the bottom of the bayou, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Identifying the skull will be all the more challenging as it is "fully decomposed, lacking a jaw or the top row of teeth," said police, who are receiving additional help from members of the forensic anthropology department at Louisiana State University, the school announced this week.
Two members of the police department's special operations unit and two cadaver dogs both searched the area of the bayou where the skull was found but did not discover any other evidence, according to a police report obtained by the Times-Picayune.
In addition to the skull, the fisherman also pulled a handgun and a gun barrel out of the water that same day, according to the police report.
A spokesperson for the NOPD said there were no new updates at this time and that they did not know of any cold cases involving victims who had been decapitated.
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