GAINESVILLE - Hall County authorities are asking for some help from the public as they try to identify skeletal remains found two months ago on some property on M. Bailey Road in the east Hall area.<br />
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Hall County Sheriff's Deputy Nicole Bailes said the owner of the property found the remains on October 9 and called authorities to investigate. Initially, the remains were sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis, but when experts there could not determine what type of bones they were, authorities called on an anthropologist for help.<br />
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"We requested that an anthropologist come in to examine the bones just because of the level and degree of deterioration that they were in," said Bailes.<br />
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"It just took some time for this anthropologist to come in and finalize his findings and release that information to us."<br />
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Bailes said the remains are believed to be those of a middle-aged, black female, approximately 5' to 5'3" tall. She said the anthropologist determined the remains showed signs of deterioration in the knees, possibly indicating the subject had arthritis. The clothing found on the remains consisted of a size 3XL forest-green hoodie, a blue fleece zip-up jacket and size 4XL dark-colored, athletic-type pants. <br />
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"It looked like to us that the clothing was layered - that would suggest that maybe she passed away during a cold spell, maybe late fall, early winter," said Bailes.<br />
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She said it appeared the woman had died about 12 months prior to the discovery of the remains.<br />
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Bailes said authorities checked their records of missing persons, but came up with no matches, so they are hoping that the release of the information will lead them to the woman's identity.<br />
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Anyone with information on missing persons matching the description of the subject is asked to contact the Hall County Sheriff's Office at 770-536-8812, or the HCSO anonymous tip line at 770-503-3232.<br />
