PALM COAST, Fla. – Human remains were unearthed during a construction project Monday in Palm Coast, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said the remains were initially found Monday afternoon near the Toscana development, a gated community that sits just off of Old Kings Road to the east of Interstate 95.
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“(I found) what looks to me — I looked it up online, and I’ve been looking... it looks like a human femur bone,” a man said in a call to dispatchers that brought deputies to the scene.
Four or five pieces of human bones were recovered after excavating crews notified deputies they found human remains, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said during an update on Tuesday.
Hear the call to 911 in the media player below:
“We’re going to have to sift through... probably hundreds of yards of dirt. It’s a very painstakingly slow process. To do this, we have to get a shovel full of dirt, put it in the strainer and go through it and see what you find. Obviously, bigger bones are easier to find, but we need to find everything,” Staly said.
He added this could be anyone from a homicide victim to a missing person to a homeless person who died.
“We just don’t know at this point until we can recover as much of the remains as we can, use DNA to try and identify the individual,” Staly said.
Deputies said there is a large law enforcement presence there and people are asked to avoid the area.
The sheriff also added construction in the area is halted at this time and the workers have moved to another job site while deputies continue their investigation.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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