Bullet holes found in skull

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation into a skull and a bone found in Wayne National Forest in Aid Township.

On Saturday, an out-of-state hunter was in the woods and came across the skull. He notified the sheriff’s office and deputies collected the skull. During a search of the area, they came across what looked like a femur bone.

Sheriff Jeff Lawless said that the skull appeared to have two bullet holes, one of which appears to be an entrance hole and the other is the exit hole.

Since the forest floor was covered in leaves, detectives marked the area surrounding where the skull was found into a grid pattern and then return with people who could search the area with as little disruption as possible.

“Because there was what appears to be bullet holes, we also wanted to take metal detectors into the area to see if we could locate a gun,” Lawless said.

The area was searched until near dark on Saturday and then left the area marked off until searchers could return.

“Because it was weekend, and on top of that a holiday weekend, we found it difficult to get the necessary, non-employees organized to search the next day, Sunday,” Lawless said. They all agreed to return on Monday.

Detectives notified that family members of a local missing man had gone into the area on Sunday and found more human bones and a handgun near the bones.

Detectives collected those from the family and proceeded back to the location.

While there, clothing items officers believed to be associated with the bones were found with the help of metal detectors.

The investigation is ongoing. The bones have been sent to a pathologist in Montgomery County for examination.