Dogs find skull near Hull home

UPDATE: Capt. Billy Knox said it is believed that the body found on Friday belonged to a male and the remains were discovered after being in the wooded area on CR 2048 for approximately a month.

According to Knox, the suspected victim did not reside in Liberty County but had family and friends who lived in the area in years past. No handgun or weapon was found at the scene to indicate suicide; however, authorities are looking into whether or not the victim took his own life by other means. No other information is available at this time.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

A Hull resident called authorities on Friday to report that his dog had found a skull near his home on CR 2048 off FM 834, according to Capt. Billy Knox, a spokesperson for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.

LCSO investigators located an area under a trampoline in the front yard where other bones were dragged up to the property by the dog. They placed small yellow evidence markers by each one they found.

Later in the evening, investigators found more human remains and now believe they have a possible identity.

“Possible kin will be interviewed and DNA will be collected from them to compare with the remains,” said Knox. “The possible identity will not be released at this time.”

Investigators with the Texas Rangers are assisting.

Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Cody Parrish was called to the scene to conduct an inquest. The bones will be sent to the DPS crime lab for DNA testing.

This is the second case this year of human bones being found by dogs in Liberty County. In June, a homeowner on S. Gates St., in Devers, reported that their family dog had brought home a human hand. Other human remains were found in a wooded area approximately 100 yards behind the house. Authorities believe those remains may belong to a suicide victim.

As a point of interest, a short distance from this home on the same county road, is a property that gained global interest in 2011 after a psychic shared a bogus tip with authorities about a purported mass grave. No bodies were ever found despite an exhaustive search. However, the case led to a lawsuit against Houston television stations by the property owners who were put in a negative spotlight.