Human remains found on Pleasant Valley Road

Apr. 15—Daviess County sheriff's deputies are investigating human remains found early Thursday morning on Pleasant Valley Road.

The skeletal remains do not show signs of foul play, county Coroner Jeff Jones said.

The remains were sent to the state Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, Jones said.

Daviess County Sheriff Barry Smith said deputies were called to the 1500 block of Pleasant Valley Road shortly after 7 a.m. Smith said a walker saw the remains about 15 feet off the roadway.

The coroner's office was called to collect the remains, which were taken to the medical examiner's office in Madisonville. Smith said investigators are working to identify the remains.

"We think we know the identity," Smith said. "The body had identification on it."

The remains are believed to be of an adult. Smith said the investigation is to determine if the ID found with the body matches the remains.

"We don't think, early on, that there has been a missing person report filed" on the person named on the identification found with the remains, Smith said.

Relatives of the person listed on the identification found with the remains are being notified.

"We will be waiting for the autopsy results to see if they can determine the cause of death," Smith said.

Jones said there were no apparent signs of foul play, but said the examination would look for all possible causes.

"Initially, there's not anything that gives us great concern of foul play" being the cause of death, he said.

When asked the process for identifying skeletal remains, Jones said, "dental (records) is one of the things we look for, but we would also look for DNA."

The medical examine will be Friday, at the earliest, Jones said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse