Hiker Discovers Human Skull At Turkey Mountain

Friday, April 4th 2014, 9:55 pm

By: Tess Maune

Police say a human skull has been discovered along a popular Tulsa hiking trail.

Late Friday evening, police say a hiker stumbled upon what he believed were human remains at Turkey Mountain and called police. When officers got to the scene, they quickly called in the medical examiner who confirmed it is a human skull.

Tulsa detectives took advantage of the little sunlight that was left to search the area for more remains.

Police said it's too early to know the cause of death, but tell us there were no obvious signs of trauma to the skull that was found.

Friday evening was only the beginning of an investigation that, police say, could last for days or even weeks, and could stretch for miles because animals could have carried off some of the remains.

Sergeant Marcus Harper with the Tulsa Police Major Crimes Unit, said, "The remains of that person could be scattered for hundreds of yards or several miles, so we're gonna have a pretty vast search area. Where we found the skull is not necessarily where something occurred, something natural or unnatural."

Sergeant Dave Walker with the Tulsa Police Department confirmed the skull appeared to belong to a white woman between 30 to 50 years old. He believes she may have died as long as two years ago.

They say the remains were found in an area near an empty fire pit.

It will take some time before the Medical Examiner can determine an identity.

Detectives will be back at Turkey Mountain first thing Saturday morning to continue their investigation.