CASEYVILLE — Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing, and area residents, are waiting for identification of human remains discovered in northwest Lincoln County on November 25. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office initially investigated the human remains before turning over the remains to the state.

The remains were recovered by the Mississippi crime lab and sent to the State Medical Examiner’s office for further testing. Rushing said the case is out of their hands for now. All the sheriff’s office can do is wait.

WLBT reported last Friday that human remains, believed to be almost two years old, were finally identified seven months after they were initially found by an Entergy worker in May 2o23. It is unknown how long it will take for the remains found in Northwest Lincoln County to be identified. Rushing said he will provide an update when they are identified.

There are still no answers to questions raised by residents about who the remains were, how long they had been there and why the remains were there. Due to the condition of the remains no further description as to sex, race, or how long they had been at the scene is available without further testing by the state lab.

“We are still waiting on the crime lab and the medical examiners office to help us with identifying the remains,” Rushing said on December 13.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was first notified the hunter had located possible human remains near a road leading into a wooded area on Wooley Trail at 4:30 p.m. on November 25. Part of the road runs through Homochitto National Forest land.

Initial information indicated that no one had been to that location since about May 2023. Deputies responded to the scene and then requested the assistance of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, the Mississippi Crime Lab response team and the Lincoln County Coroner’s Office, as reported by The Daily Leader in November.