SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : Investigators Try to Identify Remains Found in Acton

Investigators remained puzzled Thursday in their efforts to identify the skeletal remains found at the bottom of an embankment in rural Acton and to determine how the person died.

“We don’t know whether it was murder, suicide or accidental,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Detective Joe Guzman said.

He said the remains, scattered over a small area, possibly by animals, included a skull, a lower jaw and three other bones that appeared to be human.

A brother and sister, looking for recyclable cans, spotted the remains late Monday off Angeles Forest Highway, just south of Alison Canyon Road, and notified sheriff’s deputies the next day, Guzman said.

Because of the steep terrain, a mountain rescue team was called in to help deputies collect the remains. Along with the bones, deputies found some long hair, but the color could not be determined because of exposure to the elements.

Deputies also found a piece of cloth that appeared to have come from a headband or another garment, Guzman said. No other clothing, jewelry or identification papers were found at the scene.

The sex could not immediately be determined. The pelvic bone, which often indicates whether the skeleton was from a man or a woman, was not found, Guzman said.

Deputies are reviewing unsolved homicide files and missing person reports that may be linked with the Acton remains, he said. Dental records may be used to compare the recovered jaw to those of missing persons.

During the coming week, the coroner’s office plans to call in a forensic anthropologist to review the remains for clues as to age, sex, identity and cause of death, coroner’s spokesman Scott Carrier said.

Deputies also may enlist an anthropologist to reconstruct the skull’s facial features so that deputies can prepare and circulate a composite drawing to help them identify the person.