NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Glenn County Sheriff's Office is investigating the discovery of human remains along a stretch of the Sacramento River over the weekend.
Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said the discovery was made on Sunday near County Road 23, south of Hamilton City.
He said off-duty state Fish and Wildlife Warden Steve Martignoni, who was kayaking on the Sacramento River south of Hamilton City with his son, located what appeared to be human skeletal remains on the west bank, in shallow water.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Goodwin and Deputy Sheriff Jon Owens responded in a four-wheel-drive patrol unit and met with Martignoni and his son, Jones said.
Martignoni related that he and his son had decided to take a break and paddled to the west shoreline. His son noticed something in the shallows that attracted his attention and he informed his father. Upon closer inspection, the article of attraction appeared to be skeletal remains of a human, according to Jones.
While waiting for deputies to arrive, Martignoni said he explored the shoreline north and south of the location of the remains in an effort to locate further evidence of remains but found nothing, Jones said.
Jones said the skeletal remains were found in about 10 inches of clear water. The scene was processed, and the remains were packaged and removed to a mortuary.
The remains are those of a lower body extremity and there are indicators that show this is not a native artifact, which are sometimes located along the banks of the river, Jones explained.
Jones said the partial bones of a human body will be examined by the sheriff’s contract forensic pathologist and the Chico State University Human Identification Laboratory in an effort to positively discern whether they are those of a male or female, adult or juvenile, and perhaps an approximate age and race.
The information gained, Jones added, will be matched against those descriptions of known missing person reports.
At this point early on in this investigation, Jones said it is not known how long the remains may have been in the river, nor their origin, or a cause of death.
He said the area in which the remains were located will be thoroughly searched and processed.
The last human skeletal remains located in Glenn County along the Sacramento River were near the Ord Bend Park on July 27, 2012, as Lake County News has reported.
In October of 2012, those remains were identified by DNA verification as those of Heidi Joanne Ring, who had been reported as an at risk missing person in June of 2005. The investigation into the disappearance and death of Heidi Ring, like the current discovery of skeletal remains, is ongoing.
Anyone who believes they may have pertinent information regarding this recent case is asked to contact the Glenn County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office at 530-934-6441.