CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Police detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an individual whose remains were found in an isolated and heavily wooded area of the city.
Sgt. Nick Bennett told Lake County News that police do not yet have a positive identity for the individual, pending an autopsy.
Bennett said police were initially notified of the discovery of a human skull at approximately 10:19 p.m. Friday.
He said a resident on the 2700 block of Oleander Street called police to report that he had found a human skull in his yard.
Bennett said Officer Mike Ray responded to the scene and contacted the reporting party. Ray was able to ascertain that the skull appeared to be that of a recently deceased person.
Clearlake Police detectives subsequently were called to the scene and took over the investigation, Bennett said.
The reporting party told police that his dog had probably found the skull nearby and brought it to the residence, according to Bennett.
As the area near where the skull was found is isolated, very wooded with heavy brush, Bennett said he contacted Sgt. Don McPherson of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and requested assistance from Kelseyville Community Organization for Rescue and Public Service – known as K-Corps – as well as Lake County Search and Rescue in locating the rest of the human remains.
On Saturday at about 8:30 a.m., McPherson – along with Lake County Sheriff's deputies, K-Corps members, Search and Rescue personnel and two canines from the California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA) based out of Contra Costa County met with Clearlake Police detectives to begin searching for the remains, Bennett said. They set up their search center near Pomo School.
Bennett said that at approximately 10:50 a.m. Saturday one of the CARDA rescue dogs located the partial remains of a deceased person approximately 100 yards north of the residence where the skull had been found the night before.
Additional details about the condition of the body were not released by police.
Bennett said the Clearlake Police Department thanked the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for its assistance in the case by coordinating the K-Corps, Search and Rescue and CARDA.
The agency also thanked its Volunteers in Policing for their help.
Police investigate discovery of human remains in Clearlake
- Lake County News reports
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