Deputies Find Hand In Yellowhouse Canyon
Lubbock County sheriff`s officials found a human hand in the area of Yellowhouse Canyon where other remains were found last week.
Last Thursday, two passers-by found a human skull off of FM 835 near the Slaton Highway. Then on Friday, sheriff`s officials found what they believe to be the remains from the rest of the body, lying about 10 feet away from where the skull was found.
"We need to know cause of death," says Lubbock County Sheriff David Gutierrez. "We need to know if (this person`s) death was at the scene, or if it was somewhere else. There`s a lot of information that we have not found yet."
Many questions remain unanswered in the case of human remains found in Yellowhouse Canyon last week. But Tuesday, officials got one more clue: a human hand found at the scene.
"We`re always looking and I think they found some additional items from the body, but there is still no conclusion from the autopsy," says Sheriff Gutierrez.
The medical examiner`s office started that autopsy on Saturday. Now, they`re waiting for an anthropologist to help examine the bones. They expect to have preliminary results before the end of the week.
In the meantime, officials are looking at every piece of evidence found at the scene for clues about the victim`s identity.
"There was one piece of clothing that is primarily worn by males, but in this day and age, you never know," says Gutierrez. "Male and females wear sometimes the same clothing."
"The clothing will give a lot of information about whether it`s an adult or child," says Corporal John Gonzalez, with the Texas Department of Public Safety. "Hopefully (that piece of evidence) is still intact."
Something else officials say might help them solve this case is DPS` state-wide Missing Person`s Database. Corporal Gonzalez says aside from looking into the 2004 disappearances of Joanna Rogers and Jennifer Wilkerson, two Lubbock County women missing since 2004, they`re also searching the state`s records for other cases.
"We hold that information and dispurse it out to other agencies so that way, people will be on the lookout," he says.
"I know the investigative division has already pulled up some names that had been reported missing over the last three or four years and are looking at those," says Gutierrez.
The sheriff`s office is treating the area where the bones were found as a crime scene. The area will be secured until the autopsy is complete.
