Hunter finds human skull and jawbone in ‘secluded’ woods, Alabama officials say

A hunter stumbled across a human skull and jawbone in a national forest in Alabama, officials said.

Now, officials are working to figure out who the remains belong to, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 30 news release.

The discovery took place the evening of Jan. 29 near mile marker 193 in the Talladega National Forest, according to deputies. The hunter found the remains in a “secluded” area of the woods, setting off an investigation.

Calhoun County deputies began the process of excavating the remains, which will be sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine the person’s identity and cause of death, the sheriff said in the release.

“The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office is committed to conducting a comprehensive and sensitive investigation,” deputies said in the release. “We understand the gravity of this discovery and its impact on the community and the affected families.”

Jacksonville State University’s Center for Applied Forensics is assisting in the investigation.

The Talladega National Forest covers nearly 375,000 acres in central Alabama near the southern range of the Appalachian Mountains, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Hunter finds human skull and jawbone in ‘secluded’ woods, Alabama officials say."