The remains of three young children have been found in a wooded area in Memphis, Tennessee, with police believing the bodies may have been there for years.
The Memphis Police Department said in a press release shared on Wednesday, April 22, that the children were believed to be between 3 and 7 years old. Police have launched an investigation into identifying the children, as well as determining the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said during a news conference that information obtained by the Medical Examiner’s Office and scientists indicates that the bodies may have been in the area “for a few years.”
Authorities reviewed their recent missing persons reports for children, though said they have not been able to find a record matching the profile of the remains.
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“We know that this individual was not, or these individuals were not, persons that were reported out of our area,” Davis said.
The investigation began on March 8 when officers responded to a suspicious person call on Ridge Meadow Parkway. The person told police that they were walking their dog when they “stumbled upon what they thought could have been human remains or remains from an animal and called the police,” according to Davis.
Officers responded to the scene, and they located what appeared to be a human skull at the edge of the woods. An investigation ultimately determined that the findings were human remains.
As the investigation continued, officers and personnel from the Medical Examiner’s Office and Shelby County Search and Rescue returned to the scene to continue the search. On March 10, “cadaver K9 units alerted to a nearby drainage pipe, indicating the possible presence of additional human remains.”
The drainage system was inspected using a camera system on March 16 and no additional remains were located. However, investigators accessed the drainage system again from a nearby location on April 1 and located “what appeared to be an additional skull.”
An additional 14 bones were recovered by the search team the following day, which were “consistent with human remains.”
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“Somebody knows where these children have come from, someone knows of missing children that we have discovered in this area,” Davis said during the news conference. “This is heartbreaking, it is disturbing and at this time, we have numerous resources to help us identify these young people and bring closure to this investigation.”
Authorities are determined to solve the case, and Davis said officers are “going to follow every inch of this investigation, no stone unturned to just look at the possibilities these individuals could be from somewhere not in this city.”
Police are asking that anyone with information related to the investigation contact CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH or the Memphis Police Department Homicide Bureau at 901-636-3300.
