MORAINE — A human jaw bone with teeth was found by a man along Encrete Lane Tuesday, prompting police to temporarily close down the Montgomery County Solid Waste Transfer Station while an investigation was completed, said Moraine Police Sgt. Andrew Parish.
“It’s our understanding it was found roadside on Encrete Lane or somewhere near Encrete Lane, which is the road that leads to the solid waste facility,” Parish told News Center 7′s Candace Price.
Officers from Moraine and Kettering police responded to the scene around 2 p.m. Tuesday after the person who found the remains turned them into Kettering police, Parish said.
Surveillance video obtained through a public records request shows a man walking into the Kettering Police Department lobby carrying the jaw bone in his hand and setting it on the count while talking to a person behind the glass window.
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Parish said the person who found the remains spotted a box and travel bag near them.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ended up coming to the scene and took the remains to be examined.
“Their observations so far is that it does appear old, that there is some polish to the bone,” Parish said. “We hope to know more maybe later today.”
A spokeswoman at the coroner’s office said they don’t have any information they are able to release yet on the investigation. Parish said it is not clear whether the remains are those of an adult or child. He also is not sure yet whether they are male or female.
The transfer station was closed for about four hours as a precaution, while investigators sifted through debris at the facility searching for any other potential remains, however nothing else was found, Parish said.
Moraine police are reviewing surveillance video from businesses along Encrete to see if it provides any additional information on where the remains may have come from.
“Maybe that will give us some indication as to if these items fell off of a vehicle on the way to the dump, on the way back, or if it was just a passing vehicle,” Parish said. “We want to know and answer the question of how it got there.”
Parish said the department as not been able to determine yet where the remains originated.
The waste facility was reopened by Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Moraine Police at 937-535-1166.