Found Human Remains

DATE & TIME:            02-12-2017 / 1930

LOCATION:                 Big Blue River east of Wymore                    

OFFENSE:                   Found Human Remains

CASE #:                        2017-0810

A Wymore resident was riding a kayak on the Big Blue River east of Wymore during unseasonably warm weather on 02-12-2017 when he noticed what appeared to be a portion of a human skull on a sandbar in the middle of the river. He called the Wymore Police Department and an officer from the Wymore Police Department and a Gage County Sheriff’s Office deputy were dispatched to the scene.  The officer and deputy took possession of the human remains and canvassed the area around where the remains were found but did not locate any additional human remains or artifacts.

An investigator from the Gage County Sheriff’s Office was notified and lent assistance in the case. As required by Nebraska state law, the investigator notified the landowner adjacent to where the human remains were found, as was the Gage County Attorney’s Office and the Nebraska State Historical Society.

The Nebraska State Historical Society agreed to conduct an examination of the human remains in an attempt to determine the origin and approximate age of the remains. After anthropologists from the Nebraska State Historical Society examined the artifact, they sent a report to the Gage County Sheriff’s Office investigator indicating the remains were human, were non-modern, i.e. not from a recently deceased, adult, however they were unable to make any further determination regarding gender, manner or cause of death, or even broad biological affinity.  The remains were returned to the Gage County Sheriff’s Office after completion of the examination.

This report would indicate the remains, described as a “human crania fragment” were not from a person of modern times. Although an exact age of the remains was not determined but they were not from a person who lived during the 20^th or 21^st century.

According to Nebraska Revised Statute 12-1207, the human remains, if it is not determined to have Native American origin and a relative is not established, are to be interred according to the Unmarked Human Burial Sites and Skeletal Remains Protection Act. The Gage County Sheriff’s Office will retain possession of the human remains until final burial instructions are determined by the Gage County Attorney’s Office.

According to Nebraska Revised Statute 12-1205, “Any person who encounters or discovers human skeletal remains or burial goods associated with an unmarked human burial in or on the ground shall immediately cease any activity which may cause further disturbance of the unmarked human burial and shall within forty-eight hours report the presence and location of such remains or goods to a local law enforcement officer in the county in which the remains or goods are found. Any person who knowingly fails to make such a report shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor.”

Citizens or residents who finds human remains or goods associated with human burial should immediately contact a law enforcement officer and cease any activity at the location which may further damage the remains or the site.

An investigator or deputy with the Gage County Sheriff’s Office can provide assistance with any found or suspected human remains 24 hours a day. Contact the Gage County Sheriff’s Office via Southeast Communications at 402-223-5221.  

The Gage County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in this investigation by officers from the Wymore Police Department, Chief J. Welch from the Wymore Police Department, the Gage County Attorney’s Office, and several anthropologists from the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson #903

Investigator T. Hanson #90310