Sheriff: Officials may know the ID of the remains found by hunters

WARREN — Sheriff Paul Monroe says the human remains found in a heavily wooded area by hunters Christmas Day are with the Trumbull County coroner, Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk.

"We believe we know who the the remains belong to," Monroe said, but added it wouldn't be proper to discuss that until after Dr. Germaniuk conducts testing to identify the body.

The remains were found east of Mahan Denman Road and south of Hyde Oakfield Road in Bristol Township. Monroe said investigators believe the person went missing about 11 months ago.

Investigators were at the scene Christmas Day as well as Tuesday retrieving the bones and pieces of clothing. The Ohio State Highway Patrol deployed a "Total Station" that it typically uses for crash investigations.

In this case, it was used to map out all of the items found in a scientific way.

Dr. Germaniuk will use various methods to identify the body and determine the cause and manner of death. Among them will be comparing dental records, the sheriff said. The clothing may also be relevant in identifying the body, he said.

Young relatives of a homeowner on Mahan Denman Road were hunting squirrels on Christmas Day when they spotted a human skull, Monroe said. They hung an orange hunting vest at that location to mark it and didn't touch it, he said.

They went home and called 911, which brought deputies to the scene, followed by detectives from the sheriff's office and Highway Patrol.