The Coos County Sheriff's Office is continuing its search of a rural area of southeastern Coos County, after discovering the skeletal remains of an unidentified man on Feb. 9.

According to Sgt. Rod Summers, it was Friday morning when the office learned about the remains located in a rural, mountainous area near state Highway 42 at the Douglas County border.

Coos County Medical Examiner Kris Karcher said staff in her department began processing the remains Saturday morning, though no identity has been determined. She said they would first try to compare dental records, and if those efforts failed, they would turn to DNA testing.

“Hopefully, we will be able to get a positive ID as quickly as possible,” Karcher said.

This morning, authorities reported autopsy results would be available either later this week or next week, and that the state of the remains appear to be from one to five years old.

Summers said investigators have contacted surrounding counties to alert them of linking the remains to missing person cases.

When asked, Karcher declined to comment whether the remains included teeth, or if the entire skeleton had been recovered.

When asked how the body was discovered, Summers said he did not know, but that it was conceivable that animals had rooted it out of the ground, given the scope of the investigation. According to a press recording today, Summers said a timber worker discovered the bones on private timber lands.

“The area of remains is spread out over a quarter acre to half acre of brushy mountainous forest lands,” he said.

The Sheriff's Office is being assisted in its investigation by the Oregon State Police, the Coos County Medical Examiner's Office and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.