Parker County officials seek help identifying skeletal remains

Sheriff’s deputies are asking for help identifying a skull found late last week on Interstate 20 about 200 yards west of the Parker and Tarrant county line.

The remains were discovered by two falconers who had a tire blowout on the trailer they were pulling, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office said.

After calling for a service truck, the men decided to exercise the falcons. One flew out of range, and as the owner followed it, he came across a human skull near a wooded area.

Crime-scene investigators found another bone, possibly human, about 20 feet from the skull. The remains have been submitted to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office to be examined by a forensic anthropologist, Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said.

Crime scene technician Heather Huffman said the skull had previous extensive damage to the left side of the inner orbital socket and to facial bones.

“There have been surgical repairs made following previous damage including metal mesh and surgical screws implanted in the skull,” Huffman said. “We did not recover the lower mandible and no additional bones were discovered at the scene.”

Investigators have little other information.

“We’re not certain at this time if the remains are male or female, or of a specific time, manner or cause of death,” Fowler said. “Any answers at this point in the investigation would be pure speculation.”

Investigators are looking for a possible match with missing-persons cases.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Parker County officials seek help identifying skeletal remains."