by Valerie Verkamp
Landmark reporter

The Platte County Sheriff's Department has now turned over a human skull to the medical examiner's office to be investigated.

The medical examiner's office will be working with an anthropologist to help identify the remains.

According to Cpt. Erik Holland, public information officer for the Platte County Sheriff's Office, a man discovered the skull on Thursday, Jan. 19 around 6 p.m. while walking along the west side of the Missouri River levee near Waldron. The skull was found approximately 100 yards west of the levee and 200 yards from the river.

Holland said additional fragments were found in the vicinity, but authorities could not immediately determine whether they were human or animal. Those remains have also been sent to the medical examiner's office after being discovered Friday morning.

After securing the area Thursday night, deputies with the Platte County Sheriff's Office and the Gladstone Police Department digitally mapped the area with a crime scene diagram to obtain exact measurements on Friday.

Holland said the area where the skull was found was flooded over the summer. Authorities expect to have more information on the remains next week.