LUTHERSVILLE — Investigators with the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office are working to identify part of a human skeleton found about 6 p.m. Monday in the woods off Coleman Creek Circle in Luthersville.

The fragment appeared to have been in the woods for an extended period of time, said Meriwether County Sheriff Chuck Smith. Sheriff’s investigators and officials from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigated the scene, Smith stated.

The fragment was taken to the GBI crime lab in Atlanta.

“The crime lab will begin the process of attempting to determine race, sex, approximate age and any apparent causes of death,” Smith explained. “They will compare any DNA evidence that they have on file against any missing persons in the database. The GBI crime lab will utilize their resources in forensic science to help with identifying this skeletal remain and determining approximately how long the person has been deceased. We have also forwarded all missing persons information reported to this agency to the GBI for comparison.”

The Alpha Team K9 Cadaver Dogs were called in to search for any other human remains, but none were found, Smith said.