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HOBART | Authorities on Tuesday identified the human remains found last fall behind a Hobart shopping center as a 57-year-old man wanted for escaping work release in Lake County in 2012.

George W. Roberts' bones were found Sept. 2 scattered in a wooded area behind the Crossings at Hobart strip mall in the 2100 block of East 79th Avenue, just north of Southlake Mall, Hobart police Sgt. Jeremy Ogden said.

Investigators located an Indiana Department of Correction identification card registered to Roberts while searching the area.

According to a Hobart police news release, the Indiana State Police Lab developed a DNA profile of the skeletal remains. The results matched the DNA profile police had on file for Roberts, whose last known address was in Kingsbury, Ind.

Although police have determined the identity of the skeletal remains, the cause of death remains under investigation, Ogden said. At this time, police don't have evidence indicating the death was suspicious.

Ogden said Professor Stephen Nawrocki, a forensics anthropologist at the University of Indianapolis, will examine the remains to determine a cause of death.

Roberts was convicted of several crimes, including armed robbery and auto theft, police said.