The mystery could last for weeks about the human bones that a hunter discovered Saturday morning in a wood in Estrie.
“He came here to call the police because he didn’t have a cell phone and he had just found bones,” said a woman who does not wish to be identified and who lives on Valley Road in Melbourne.
His house nestled between a river and mountainous fields is the only one around, located a few hundred meters from where the hunter made the macabre discovery around 9:30 a.m.
“He didn’t seem too panicked,” added the resident, who was making a campfire with relatives during our visit.
Photo QMI Agency, Thierry Laforce
As these are human remains, the forensic identification team and major crime investigators went on site, said Stéphane Tremblay, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
In the early evening, police were still busy combing the scene, along the small gravel road in a large rural area.
long investigation
However, it could take weeks or even months before we know the identity of the person and the circumstances of his death, said François Doré, retired lieutenant of the SQ.
“First, the police will search the area, like a crime scene, looking for clues. They want to find things, for example pieces of clothing, a wallet or even a piece of jewelry that they could link to a missing person,” he explained.
Photo QMI Agency, Thierry Laforce
Police officers from the Sûreté du Québec searched the area where the bones were found for much of the day on Saturday. Valley Road in Melbourne, Estrie, was also blocked to prevent motorists from driving there.
The bones will also be analyzed at the unique Laboratory of Forensic Sciences and Forensic Medicine, located in Montreal. The specialists will search, among other things, for traces of DNA “to see if they could find a match in the database”.
“With examinations and samples, they can determine if it is a woman or a man as well as its age. These elements will make the possible leads narrow for the investigators, ”said the ex-policeman.
Depending on their condition, the bones can reveal many clues. “We can know if the person has suffered injuries, for example by an animal, a firearm or a blunt object,” explained Mr. Doré.
suspicious death
Murder, suicide, natural death: the SQ is not ruling out any leads for the moment to explain the death considered suspicious.
“I never heard that a person had gotten lost in the area,” said Jean-Pierre Lavallée, who was walking a little higher on Valley Road on Saturday with his wife and their little dog.
The latter hopes that a murder case does not take shape in the area where he lives, which he describes as family and quiet since always.