Authorities in Maryland are working to identify human bones recently found by a hiker.
The Frederick News-Post reported the Frederick County Sheriff's Office determined the bones were human on Friday afternoon.
A hiker discovered the remains Thursday evening north of Frederick Municipal Forest. They were found in what authorities have described as a shallow grave.
Maj. Tim Clarke, a sheriff's office spokesman, said investigators were initially going to wait for an anthropologist to determine whether the bones were human. But Clarke said the remains were "clearly human" upon further excavation of the site.
Clarke said identification won't be easy given the severe decomposition of the remains.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
