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'Bucket by bucket of dirt:' JSO continues to find human remains at construction site in Oceanway

The bones are being taken to the medical examiner so that the cause of death and identity can be determined.

Police are continuing to find human remains at the site where a skull and other bones were found Tuesday in the Oceanway area.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said human remains were initially found after a construction crew pulled dirt from the San Mateo neighborhood Tuesday and dumped it near Interstate-295 and Main Street.

"Construction crew discovered the first remains, at that point, they shut the site down," said JSO Lieutenant Craig Waldrup. "We begin to bucket-by-bucket of dirt sift through what they had pushed up there. So we go through it one five-gallon bucket at a time."

RELATED: 'Bucket by bucket of dirt:' JSO continues to find human remains at construction site in Oceanway

JSO says they will continue excavation of the site where the remains were found, as well as begin searching the area where the dirt was excavated from.

JSO said the remains were originally buried near Eastport Road in San Mateo but were uncovered when a bulldozer took the dirt from the area and pushed it at I-295 and Main Street in the Oceanway neighborhood. 

JSO said three bones were found and it is too soon to tell who the bones are or how long they had been buried. The remains were decomposed and had no clothes or identifiers. 

The bones are being taken to the medical examiner so that the cause of death and identity can be determined.

 A command center has been established at Oceanway Church.

Michael LaForte, a forensic consultant with Knox and Associates with decades of experience working crime scenes, says it’s possible the bones may have come from an old family grave plot, but he’s not ruling anything out.

“It lends it to the fact it could’ve been a family plot or multiple graves from long ago, in that area it’s possible,” LaForte said.

LaForte believes the body’s been dead for quite some time but couldn’t guess an age. He said this will be a lengthy process before the identity of these remains are confirmed.

“The possibilities are numerous, they need to see if they can age the bones, find clothing, get a time period need to find multiple clues and see what the picture comes out to be,” LaForte said.

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