A call from a homeowner on CR 325 in North Liberty County on Friday evening to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office put into motion a very active search for additional skeletal remains after the homeowner reported a human skull found in the front yard. According to Sheriff’s Lead Investigator Travis Pierce, the homeowner said it was thought to have been brought from the surrounding wooded area into their yard by the family pet dog. Due to heavy rain and adverse weather conditions over the weekend the search was postponed until Monday morning when Texas EquuSearch and the LCSO Mounted Posse responded to the Investigator’s request for additional manpower to search the woods surrounding the home. The search conditions in the woods were difficult as a large portion of the woods were little more than water filled marshland and mud making walking difficult at times for the searchers. The search continued throughout the day Monday with no additional remains located. Investigator Pierce described the skull as being extremely “weathered” and appeared to have been exposed to weather conditions for several years. Due to the fact the teeth and lower jaw bone was not attached, the Sheriff’s Office is not speculating on the sex of the individual, the identity nor the age and circumstances which may have led to the death of the person. Due to the obvious weathered condition of the skull, it is not possible to determine, at this early stage of the investigation, if the remains were washed up from a shallow grave or the individual was, at some point, on top of the ground. With the animal and wildlife activity in the thick woods, it is even possible the remains may have been carried from some other distant location onto CR 325 by animals or by floodwaters that have hit the area over the past several years. Investigator Pierce said the remains will be examined and the investigation will continue in an attempt to identify the partial remains but no speculation is being made as to the identity so as not to foster false hope for family members who may have loved ones missing in the last few years.
