Family members of more than 10 missing persons have called Commerce City police anticipating that bones found Sunday near a canal might lead to a sad resolution to personal mysteries.
But Commerce City police warn that it could take several months to determine whether the bones recovered from the banks of the Burlington Canal this week could lead to an identification.
“We’re getting a bunch of calls. We’re collecting names and family-contact information,” said Detective Mike Saunders of the Commerce City Police Department. “When we narrow down the list of who it could be, we’ll contact people.”
The coroner expects it will be three weeks before a manner and cause of death can be determined. It could take up to two months to determine whether the bones will yield a DNA profile, Saunders said.
A forensic anthropologist will be asked to determine age, sex and ethnicity, he said.
Experts believe they have enough remains to get a good DNA sample, Saunders said.
After an extensive search this week, Commerce City police recovered a human pelvis, femur bone, finger bone and tibia/fibula bone from the canal banks, he said.
If the anthropologist gets a DNA sample from the bones, comparisons can then be made with DNA provided by family members of missing persons who fit the profile identified by the anthropologist, Saunders said.
“We’re a long, long, long way from a conclusion,” he said. “We want to make sure we get it right before we raise the hope of too many people.”
Investigators may return to the canal for a second search because they may not have searched deep enough the first time, Saunders said.
An angler flagged down officers Sunday to report finding a skeletal leg near the canal in the 5800 block of York Street. When investigators arrived, they found more remains on the bank northwest of the canal.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Commerce City Police Department at 303-227-8840.
Family members also are contacting police and sheriff’s deputies in locations where their loved ones were last seen, including Denver, Saunders said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
