MANCHESTER — The skeletal remains of a person were found Saturday morning by a deer hunter off a logging road near Puddledock Road, police said, adding that they are treating the site as a crime scene.

The remains were believed to be of an adult and were to be examined, according to Maine State Police Detective Jason Richards. He said the sheriff’s office was called about the discovery just after 8 a.m.

Additional Photos

EXCAVATION: Maj. Ryan Reardon, right, of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, carries evidence collection tools; state police Detective Terry James, center, lugs a metal detector; and state police Detective Sgt. Jason Richards carries hand tools into the woods of Manchester on this afternoon to excavate skeletal remains discovered by hunters earlier in the day. The sheriff’s department was called just after 8 a.m. when a deer hunter encountered the bones about a half-mile up a dirt logging road from Puddledock Road, according to Reardon. The remains, believed to be of an adult, will be examined as they are recovered to determine an identity and a cause of death, Reardon said. Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Maj. Ryan Reardon, of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, said the remains appeared to have been there quite a while and had degraded significantly. He said there was some clothing around the remains.

The hunters lead police to the remains in a thickly wooded area between one-third of a mile and a half-mile into the woods.

Reardon said police could not tell whether the remains were male or female.

He said evidence technicians were processing the scene Saturday. The state Medical Examiner’s Office has been notified and will receive the remains when they are removed from the scene.

Police asked anyone with information about the remains, or about missing people in the area, to call the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office at 623-3591.

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