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Skull found in the Donovan confirmed to be human, police say

Office of Chief Coroner coordinating further examination
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Greater Sudbury Police are on the scene near Bruce Avenue in the Donovan where there was a report of found human remains. File photo.

A skull found in a wooded area near Bruce Avenue in the Donovan has now been confirmed to be an actual human skull, Greater Sudbury Police confirmed this morning.

Yesterday, the GSPS police forensic unit searched the wooded area off Bruce Avenue, after a resident said she found a skull behind the Unicorn Non-Profit Homes Complex on Sunday.

The woman, who didn't want to be named, told Sudbury.com yesterday that she was picking up garbage in the area when she found a skull that was missing the lower jaw.

“I went back to clean up the garbage,” said the woman.

She said she found what she described as a “small” skull. The lower jaw was missing, but the upper half still had half a tooth stuck in it.

She said bears and other animals drag garbage bags from people's homes back there all the time, which is why she was back there picking up trash. She said she doesn't know if that's how the skull got there, or if someone tossed it there.

“I thought it was fake, because people dump a lot of stuff back there,” she said. “I didn't want to call the cops here for something fake, so I brought it to the police station. One of the officers thought it was real, because there was still half a tooth in it. There's always people back there. Teenagers hang out there, people go there and drink – I just really don't know.”

GSPS said this morning that now that the skull has been confirmed as a real human skull, the Office of the Chief Coroner will be coordinating further examination.