LITTLE ROCK — Mulberry Police Chief Joshua Craig said he hopes to get a report by week’s end from the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock on the identity of human remains found over the weekend near a creek in Mulberry.
The case is being worked as a homicide until that is ruled out or a cause of death can be determined, Craig said. Once the identity of the remains is known, the investigation into the cause of death can begin, he said
Police were called to an area where Vine Prairie Branch creek runs under U.S. 64 in Mulberry after a woman who was out walking about 6 p.m.Saturday spotted something in the undergrowth, Craig said.
Officers found skeletal remains and some clothing. Crawford County sheriff’s investigator Ken Howard said the sex and age of the person could not be determined. Mulberry police asked the sheriff’s office to assist in the investigation, Howard said.
Craig said he didn’t know how long the remains had been at the site. The woman who called police probably was able to spot the remains because the vegetation around them had gone dormant during the winter, he said.
There are reports of several missing persons from the area, he said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/23/2011