Partial skeletal remains were found on the Big Island of Hawaii last month, near belongings marked with the name of missing woman Jessica Urbina (pictured)

Police on Hawaii's Big Island are trying to identify human remains that were found near personal items belonging to a Canadian woman who has been missing for about 15 years.

Local hunters found partial human skeletal remains last month in a remote area of the island's Puna district, about a half-mile from a subdivision called Hawaiian Paradise Park.

The remains have been sent to a mainland forensic laboratory and it could be a month or two before an identity is confirmed, Hawaii Police Department Lt. Greg Esteban said Wednesday.

Esteban did not specify how long it appears the body had been decomposing, and said all identifying features - including the person's sex - were impossible to ascertain.

He told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that there was no 'obvious indicators on the remains that would tell us a cause or manner on how this person died.'

When police went to investigate the remains, they found weathered clothing and what appeared to be a sleeping bag. One of the items had a name on it: Jessica Urbina.

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Urbaina traveled to Hawaii in November 2000 and her family reported her missing a year later. The remains were found near the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision

The name led police to a missing person's report for her from 2001 at the Honolulu Police Department.

Urbina, of Montreal, Quebec, traveled alone to Hawaii on vacation in November 2000 when she was 21 years old and her family reported her missing a year later. At the time, she was described as being 5-foot-1 and 100 pounds with long black hair, brown eyes and fair skin. She would be 37 now.

A family friend told CTV that she traveled on an open ticket, and that the last person Urbina talked to on the phone was her mother. Urbina's mother noticed 'something wasn't quite right' during their conversation and that's when the family began to worry and reported her missing.

While Urbina has a living sister, both of her parents have since died of cancer.

Police are getting DNA samples from her family, he said. Hawaii County police have also opened a missing person case.

'We just want to emphasize: Until a validation is made, these are two separate investigations,' Esteban said.

'The picture is there and we’re hopeful that somebody will see it and go, "I remember her from several years ago" and contact us with any historical information they may have,' Esteban said.

Police are asking anyone with information to call Lieutenant Esteban at 808-961-2252 or email him at gregory.esteban@hawaiicounty.gov.