The skull was found Monday afternoon by a property owner at the Rivers Edge Campground, which is located at the foot of Washington Street in the southeastern Peoria County village. On Tuesday, Capt. Tyler McCoy of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office said the owner found the skull, later determined by a forensic pathologist to be that of a man, near the bank of the river. Another set of bones, located by one of the county’s search and rescue teams, about a mile and a half northeast of the campground were found later Sunday evening, about 8 p.m. Those, however, were determined to be animal bones.
The skull is estimated to have been in the water for two to four months, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said Tuesday. However, work was done to begin the process of identification through DNA. The coroner said teeth were extracted from the skull so DNA could be retrieved.
