BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Tribune) -- A bone found by a dog in east Birmingham earlier this month has been determined to belong to a human, according to the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office.
The bone has been identified as a human left tibia. This is the second human bone found by the dog, who also found a skull in August.
The coroner’s office said additional DNA analysis will be performed to determine if the two bones belong to the same person, which could take 1-3 months to complete.
On Aug. 20, the skull was discovered by a homeowner along the shoulder of the roadway next to his property on 5th Place NW. Investigators suspect the skull was moved from its original location, which remains unknown, by the homeowner’s dog.
The coroner’s office later determined that the skull belonged to an unidentified man who was killed by a gunshot wound. A DNA analysis of the skull did not match any known person in the national Combined DNA Index System database.
After the dog found the second bone on Dec. 12, investigators searched nearby vacant properties and doorbell cameras but could not determine the origin of the bone or where the dog had been roaming.
The coroner’s office also said they are working with law enforcement to identify missing persons cases possibly associated with the remains and to obtain DNA reference samples from the families of the missing persons for comparison to the recovered remains.
They are also trying to better understand the roaming patterns of dogs in the area in an effort to locate the origin of the remains.