Photo taken after the shoe had first been removed and the bones discovered.  The shoe was set upright in the approximate original position in order to show how the scene had first appeared.

Information on the human remains found just south of the Humboldt County line last October was received yesterday from the CSU-Chico Human Identification Laboratory.  According to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, their report states that ” the human remains are believed to be that of a white male adult, approximately 25-45 years of age with a height between 5 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 5 inches tall.”

The grave site and the body was discovered last October by a family near Piercy.  For years they had seen the toe of a single sneaker protruding from the ground.  They dismissed it as river trash.  This last year, a second sneaker toe was uncovered side by side with the first which led to the man of the family poking around more deeply.

On the day before Halloween, the man pulled one of the shoes out.  It was difficult.  The man thought maybe roots had grown into it but instead discovered that the shoe contained bones and a sock. 

“Once he found the bones, they were put in an empty bag he had with him,” explained the wife. “…When I went back with him to confirm [around dusk,] we brought a little shovel and dug out a little more until we could see the [leg-bone. It was only a round little end…but it was obviously a bone leading up the leg …[and we] could see there was a leg-bone going up inside what looked like denim pants. That is what confirmed to us we really were seeing a human body and it was time to call the police about it.”

First, the couple tried to reconstruct the scene a bit for a photo to show what they had seen to the police. “We placed the sneaker back in place to take that first picture. I turned it sideways to show the type of sneaker to take the 2nd one [see below],” described the wife.

The bottom photo shows the type of shoes the man was wearing when he was buried in the wooded area not far from the river.

For more details, see story from last October here.

Closeup of the shoes.  The brand is Pro Wings and they are shown as men’s in one internet site.