Authorities with Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and Columbus Fire and Rescue were searching a pond Wednesday off Armistad Road after the discovery of the second human bone found in the area in a month.
A resident on Armistad Road, off Highway 69, found what investigators believe is a bone from the “lower part of the body” in his yard Tuesday afternoon, LCSO Capt. Greg Wright told The Dispatch. The same property owner discovered a possible human skull on his property on March 13 and called 911. Investigators believe the property owner’s dogs found the bones and dragged them into the yard.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant took the skull to the Mississippi Forensics Center in Jackson last month and currently has the second bone in his custody. He said he’s waiting to see if investigators find anything else in their search before taking the second bone to Jackson.
While Wright said investigators assume the bones come from the same individual, Merchant said he didn’t know if that was the case.
“At this point, there’s no way of telling,” he said.
Wright said investigators have called in cadaver dogs and a dive team from CFR to search a nearby pond for more remains. They searched the area all day Wednesday, he said, but found nothing else.
Investigators had previously searched the surrounding woods to determine where the remains came from, Wright said. There are no churches or cemeteries near the property, he added, which is why they’re now focusing on the pond.
“Either it’s a source of this or we’re going to eliminate it (as the source),” he said.
While the forensics lab has not dated the skull yet, Merchant said he believes it had been buried for a long time before it was uncovered. He added the bone didn’t have any obvious trauma.
Wright confirmed the case is not being investigated as a homicide.
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