A group of hikers stumbled upon human remains on the Arizona Strip just southeast of St. George, Arizona Strip, Arizona, Nov. 16, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Ruben Togisala, St. George News

ARIZONA STRIP – A group of Boy Scouts from Cedar City made an eerie discovery Saturday when they stumbled upon human remains while on a 20-mile hike on the Arizona Strip, just southeast of St. George.

“We weren’t even supposed to be there,” Ruben Togisala, a father who volunteered to go along on the hike, said. “Our hike was slated for Duck Creek on Cedar Mountain, but got changed for the Arizona Strip due to weather.”

About 5 miles into the hike, while taking a shortcut to get where they were supposed to be, Togisala said, one of the Boy Scout leaders and some of the boys discovered the remains.

The group found several bones, including a skull, ribs, vertebrae, femur, an arm bone and tailbone, spread out within a 10-yard radius, along with pants, a shirt and a blanket, Togisala said.

Though Togisala said he is not a human remains expert, he said his best estimate of how long the remains had been there is around five-six months and he said they could still smell the stench of the body.

“There was a putrid smell near the remains,” he said.

The group contacted the authorities and Togisala said a Mohave County Sheriff’s Deputy and a Bureau of Land Management Ranger met them out there.

Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Patricia Carter said their office received the report of the human remains found south of the Arizona Strip, approximately 17 miles south of Hurricane, at 11:35 a.m. Saturday.

Investigators confirmed the discovery in the area of Temple Trail Road and collected several pieces of evidence from the scene. The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office recovered the human remains.

Identification and autopsy results are pending, Carter said. This is an ongoing investigation.

The Scouts were able to finish their 20-mile hike, which won’t easily be forgotten.

“We hope that this discovery brings closure to the family of the individual,” Togisala said.

This is a developing story.

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