Human bones found near Cherokee City

Anthropologists, investigators are determining age and whether murder involved

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

— Human bones were recovered on a bluff in the woods of western Benton County on Thursday.

Benton County Sheriff's Office investigators and anthropologists from the University of Arkansas recovered the bones on private property between Cherokee City andGentry, said Kenneth Paul, an investigator.

“We recovered everything,” Paul said. “Several bones were removed.”

The anthropologists will determine how old the bones are, he said. Their age could determine the direction of the Sheriff’s Office investigation.

Paul said he wouldn’t rule out a murder investigation.

No information on the age of the bones was available at press time.

“It could be hundreds of years old or as far back as the 1900s,” Paul said.

Authorities said a man was cleaning the property Tuesday where the bones were found.

The man found a bone and took it to authorities. He later took investigators to where he found it.

On Wednesday, a doctor confirmed the first bone was human, Paul said. The recovered bones looked to be from someone who was at least 30 years old.

“It was a small person,” Paul said.

Paul said the Sheriff’s Office receives between four and five bones each year. Most are determined to be from animals.

News, Pages 7 on 04/11/2012