IRWINDALE — A homeless man searching for recyclables stumbled upon the skeletal remains of a body separated from the skull in a brush covered field along the San Gabriel riverbed Thursday afternoon.
The grisly discovery was made just after 5:20 p.m. in a field just west of the riverbed and south of Foothill Boulevard, according to Irwindale police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials.
The remains were mainly skeletal, and appeared to have been there for at least several weeks, Sgt. Scott Hoglund of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
The skull and the rest of the body were about 15 feet apart when discovered, the sergeant said. The skull was nearly visible from Foothill Boulevard.
“It was most likely animal activity” that separated the skeleton from the skull, Hoglund said.
Hoglund said the investigation remained in its early stages, however there were no overt signs of foul play or trauma on the remains.
Investigators could not initially tell if the remains were that of a man or a woman, but they appeared to belong to an adult.