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January 10, 2013

Human remains still a mystery

Megan Bristow The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN — The mystery of the 800- to 1,000-year-old bones were found in the northeast part of Stephens County has yet to be solved.

The bones were found on the land of local rancher Tom Johnson on Tuesday, Jan. 1, in the northeastern part of the county.

“They were found along Mud Creek, which is in the northeastern part of Stephens County between Velma and Duncan,” Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney said.

Johnson was repairing a water gap along the creek when he found the remains.

“He saw what appeared to be a human skull,” McKinney said.

“He contacted my office and it appeared to be us to be some very old remains.”

Having some prior work history with University of Oklahoma’s Forensic Archaeologist Kent Buehler, he was the sheriff’s first call.

Buehler came down to the site to examine and excavate remains, which have now been transported back to the University of Oklahoma for analysis.

“They told us it would take several months before they had anything,” McKinney said. “They have a long, tedious task and have a lot of things to go through.”

The lengthy process should conclude with information about the man’s probable Native American background and other demographic information.

“I would like to know what kind of people we are talking about,” McKinney said. “I am sure he was Indian, but what kind of Indian?”

McKinney said there are no plans to do any future digging in the area for other remains.

“We really have not done anything yet,” Buehler said. “At some point, these remains will likely be repatriated and reburied.”

The bones could be a similar found as those that were found in recent years in Cotton County.

“Several years ago, there was some remains found in Cotton County,” McKinney said.

“All indications is that it is from that time period.”

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