Authorities say what may be a human bone was discovered in Steens on Thursday.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant told The Dispatch a resident found the bone in the yard of his Fernbank Road home before leaving for work. Authorities from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department and Merchant arrived at the scene about 9 a.m. and remained throughout the day.
The homeowner, who lives about a mile from the Alabama border, was leaving for work when he saw something suspicious in his yard and believed it might be human remains, Merchant said. The homeowner went back into his home, did an online search and called 911.
Because of the ongoing investigation into the missing person case of Keisha Turner from Vernon, Alabama, authorities from the Vernon Police Department were also at the scene, according to Capt. Ryan Rickert with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department.
Turner disappeared Feb. 19. She has not been seen since. Her vehicle was discovered abandoned in Lowndes County this year. Brandon DeWayne Sykes, her ex-husband, has been indicted by an Alabama grand jury on capital murder charges in relation to Sykes’ disappearance. Sykes is being held in Pickens County Jail.
The bone found in Steen has been flown to Jackson. Medical examiners there will run tests on it, including DNA testing, Rickert said.
The incident remains under investigation.
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