VIDEO ADDED
Police have confirmed human bones were found.
/ KHQA's Jim Whitfield
PIKE COUNTY, ILL. -- UPDATED: September 14 at 3:30 p.m.
It may take weeks or months to determine who's bones were found at the John Hay public use area on Sunday.
The Pike County Sheriff's Department has confirmed the skeletal remains are from a human.
Authorities plan to send the bones to an anthropologist to determine the age of the person at the time of death.
The hope is the scientists will be able to determine the sex, race, height and other individual characteristics from the bones.
Based on the external examinations, authorities believe these might be very old bones.
Then scientists will extract DNA from the bones in hopes of identifying the victim.
That means it could take several months to get answers.
A fisherman found the bones near the river bank on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River across from Hannibal on Sunday.
-----------
UPDATED: September 13 at 5:39 p.m.
It appears the bones found at the John Hay public use area ARE human.
Pike County Sheriff Paul Petty confirms that preliminary reports from Springfield indicate the bones tested positive for human identification.
The Sheriff's department did a thorough dig in the area on Monday and are satisfied with what they were able to collect.
Sheriff Petty says further investigation into the identification of the bones is necessary.
A fisherman found the bones near the river bank on Sunday.
-----------
A suspicious discovery is being investigated by the Pike County Sheriff's Department.
Five separate bones were located and they have been taken to Springfield for identification.
Police have covered a 20 foot by 20 foot area of land near the John Hay Public Area where a fisherman found the bones on Saturday.
It was obvious to the fisherman that there was a makeshift cross near the remains. The items were weathered and very aged and were found near the shoreline and in the water.
Sheriff Paul Petty is to hold a press conference when more details are available about the identity of the deceased.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA