JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The remains of “multiple people” have been unearthed at two construction sites on Jacksonville’s Northside, the Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Construction crews initially unearthed bones, including a skull, on Tuesday when a bulldozer pushed through a pile of dirt being used to build a new overpass ramp at Interstate 295 and Main Street.
Lt. Craig Waldrup with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit said Thursday that the crew immediately shut down work at the site and called authorities about the discovery. Investigators began searching through the dirt at the overpass site and also at the site where the dirt was sourced about 3 miles away off Eastport Road.
“We began to bucket-by-bucket of dirt sift through what they had pushed up there,” Waldrup said. “We go through it one 5-gallon bucket at a time.”
Waldrup said more remains were found at the overpass site on Tuesday and at the dirt source site on Wednesday.
“We’re not sure (how many people) because it’s pieces," Waldrup said. "The forensic anthropologist hasn’t been able to put those all together yet.”
The Sheriff’s Office said it’s possible there was an old cemetery.
Waldrup said the medical examiner’s office and a forensic anthropologist team will work to identify the remains and determine the cause of death, which could take months.
He said investigators will be out at the site for at least a week but that each time remains are found, they’re required to go further and it could take much longer.
Archer Western is the company doing construction on the overpass.
Photos of the remains, including the skull, were sent to News4Jax. Because of their graphic nature, we are not sharing them.