UPDATE: Human remains found near W’burg sent to medical examiner for identification

The human remains found Sunday afternoon in a grassy area off of Happy Hollow Road in Williamsburg have been turned over to the state medical examiner and will be going to the University of Tennessee for identification.

Harrell said the bones include the skull, jawbone pelvis and femur, which will enable investigators to determine the sex, race, height and weight of the victim.

“Most of the teeth are still intact on the skull and jawbone,” Harrell said, noting positive identification may be done through dental records.

As to the timeframe for when the information will be available, Harrell and Whitley County Coroner J. Andrew Croley agreed there is no way to approximate that.

Harrell said since news of the discovery was made public, his office and Whitley County E911 have received multiple calls from family members of missing persons.

“We are taking names and contact numbers along with a brief description of the missing person and filing it,” Harrell said, noting whenever the medical examiner releases the physical characteristics of the individual, investigators can compare them.

In addition, Harrell said there are two or three open missing persons cases in Whitley County, which the results will be compared with.

Among those cases is the disappearance of 47-year-old Danny Ray Harrison in 2000.

Harrison, who was staying at the homeless shelter at the time, was last seen near the G&E Drive-In sign off of US 25W in Williamsburg.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said previously that cadaver dogs have indicated on multiple occasions the presence of human remains in the Cumberland River near a ravine near the place where Harrison was last seen alive.

The river has been searched in the area, but nothing has been found.

Officials said in 2007 that because of the amount of time that has passed, it is likely that if the Harrison went into the river there, there are only a few teeth remaining and it is almost impossible to recover something that small from the river.

In March 2007, Kentucky State Police with then Detective Colan Harrell leading the investigation, used cadaver dogs to search property in the Gatliff/Verne area in eastern Whitley County for the remains of Roger Sasko, who has been missing since November 2003.

The dogs initially hit on a spot on a piece of property owned by Sasko and his wife. However, after using a backhoe to dig in that spot, the dog didn’t indicate the presence of human remains.

After Sasko was reported missing in November 2003, members of his family received some letters or postcards reportedly from Sasko shortly after he disappeared, but the authenticity of those correspondents hasn’t been determined.

The letters reported that Sasko was traveling, and bore a Lexington postmark.

Harrell said no personal effects or pieces of clothing have been recovered with the remains found Sunday. However, investigators have been to the scene two more times since then and are planning to conduct an additional search today.

Harrell said the bones were not laid out like a skeleton. The skull was in the center with the other bones scattered in about within a 75-yard circumference near a pond on property belonging to the University of the Cumberlands.

“They weren’t in one piece,” Harrell said.

Croley said recent terrain changes brought about by the severe weather is likely the reason the bones were found.

“There are just too many outside elements,” Croley said when asked for an estimate of how long the bones had been there. “The only way you will ever know is if you have a positive identification.”

Harrell said two fishermen discovered the remains about 1:15 p.m. Sunday and contacted authorities.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Kirk Mays and Croley are leading the investigation and were assisted at the scene by Sheriff’s Chief Deputy K.Y. Fuson, Deputy David Rowe and Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses.