By WMBD TV
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Mushroom hunters found what they thought was a human skeleton Sunday afternoon, resulting in the closure of a road in a wooded area southeast of East Peoria for several hours.
Tazewell County Chief Deputy Tim Gillespie said they are still methodically searching the area, with crime scene investigators looking for any additional skeletal remains.
The call came in about 4:10 p.m., that the mushroom hunters spotted what they believed was a human skull.
“The responding deputies confirmed it was a human skull partially buried in a creekbed,” he said.
That confirmation brought crime scene investigators and the Tazewell County Coroner‘s Office to the area to make sure there were no other bones and shut down the immediate area. The 1300 block of Cole Street, which is between Brady Park and Riley Lane, was closed for several hours.
It’s still unclear whether the skull was initially left at that location or if it was moved there at a later time, Gillispie said.
The sheriff’s office and the coroner’s office are still combing the area to ensure they have everything they can to make an identification. But the identification process alone will take time, Gillispie said.
This story was originally produced by WMBD-TV and can be found on CIProud.com.
