ELKVIEW, W.Va.——- Human remains were found last week in Elkview, near the Young Bottom’s area and Elk River Road.
Chief Deputy for the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, Joe Crawford said that a man initially found the remains on November the 28 but returned the next day because he was concerned.
“Saw what he thought might be some type of remains, wasn’t sure if it was an animal or what so it got to weighing heavy on him, so he went back to the area on the 29th of November, the next day,” Crawford said. “Looked at it a little bit further and discovered it looked like skeletal remains.”
The man than called 911 and they dispatched deputies to the scene. The deputies on scene discovered they were human remains and investigators were sent out, where they spent time gathering the remains.
“Four to five hours that night to try and recover what remains were there,” Crawford said. “Within the next two days, they went back and recovered some additional remains there at the scene.”
Right now, the sheriff’s office believes the remains are female after listening to 911 phone calls from the area.
“The skeletal remains, we feel that it’s a female, we don’t have any other information, other than we feel like it’s a female based on a call that was in that area from September the 8th,” Crawford.
He said the 911 phone on that day was about suspicious activity surrounding a female in that area. The information is based on the active investigations around the area.
The remains have been sent to the medical examiner’s office for further identification. However, he did say that, if necessary, they would reach out to other facilities that specialize in human remains. He also couldn’t confirm if there was any foul play because at this time they didn’t know, however he believes the public is not in any danger.
He encourages anyone with information to contact the sheriff’s office.
“If anybody has information, or was in that area or they have someone who maybe, a relative that may be missing that hasn’t been reported, obviously we like for them to reach out to us so we can talk to them,” Crawford said.
Crawford also said that the deputies and investigators will continue working diligently on the case in order to get an identification on the remains.
“It’s going to be a long process right now with skeletal remains trying to get a positive identification on the remains,” he said. “So that’s what we’re going to be working on over the next several months.”
Anyone with information can contact the Sheriff’s Office at 304-367-0556 or submit a tip here.