Human remains found in Pender County

PENDER COUNTY — Progress Energy crews working at a construction site in Pender County have made a startling discovery: human remains.

The sheriff’s office says an employee was digging for electrical cables on a site off Sloop Point Road when he found a human skull.

The sheriff’s office spent much of Wednesday digging up more bones. Right now they don’t know who the person is, when they died or how they died.

Investigators estimate the bones to be about 100 hundred years old. If it is a murder or suspicious death, the sheriff’s office says it’s not likely to have a case file because of how old the bones are.

The owner of the property where the skeletal remains were found says he thinks it could be remains from the civil war.

The remains are being sent to a forensic scientist at UNCW who will try and figure out who this John or Jane Doe is and how they died.

Some parts of the lower jaw were found with teeth still in tact which may help in identifying the bones.