Person walking dog finds human remains N. of Bend

(Update: Comments from neighbor, more from sheriff’s office)

Someone walking their dog just north of Bend on Sunday morning discovered human remains on private property near the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 West and Robal Road, authorities said.

The person was walking their dog on private property between Highway 20 and O.B. Riley Road, made the discovery and contacted Deschutes County 911 dispatchers around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey said.

Sheriff’s deputies and detectives worked at the scene throughout Sunday afternoon to document, collect evidence and recover the remains, likely those of an adult male, assisted by the county district attorney’s office, county medical examiner and Oregon State Police Crime Lab.

An autopsy is planned Tuesday at the state Medical Examiner’s Office in Clackamas to help investigators in their efforts to positively identify the person and determine the cause of death, Bailey said. He added that more information will be released as it becomes available.

Bailey would not say if the remains were visible from a distance, but indicated no tent or other belongings were found that would indicate the person was living in the area.

A neighbor said he was not surprised remains were found in the location, which is frequented by transients.

” It’s not too surprising to me, because we deal with this problem all the time, with the homeless people on this road over here, ” Nick Newberry said. ” They get into fights, drugs, we hear gunshots — they get into fights in the back acreage of our property. ”