Blunt force trauma caused death in Saginaw County bones mystery

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SAGINAW COUNTY (WJRT) (8/15/2019) - Investigators still don't know whose bones were found in a rural wooded area of Saginaw County a year ago, but they can now say that person died of blunt force trauma.

Police determined bones found on this wooded property in rural Chapin Township were a white or Hispanic male who died of blunt force trauma.

The person's death is considered suspicious, said Saginaw County Sheriff Bill Federspiel.

He said the remains found last September in Chapin Township were "pretty close to a full skeleton." A Michigan State University forensic anthropologist determined the bones are that of a white or Hispanic man.

Federspiel said the man was between the ages of 25 to 55 and about 5-foot-2 to 5-foot-10. The forensic report shows the man was injured in some manner, so much so that it doesn't appear he died of a medical condition.

"Blunt force trauma caused the death. What caused the blunt force trauma? We are unsure of at this time," Federspiel said.

Could it have been a hunter who fell from a tree stand? Was the man beaten? Investigators are still not sure.

The report also indicates how long the bones may have been there.

"Utlimately, we are looking at one to five years, but that is just an estimate based on weather patterns," Federspiel said. "It could be longer, it could have been a little shorter."

When the remains were found in September, investigators didn't believe they matched up with any missing person cases in the area.

"It doesn't mean that the skeletal remains belong to a person who is missing from Saginaw County. They could be missing from anywhere," Federspiel said.

The investigation is continuing as a suspicious death.

"Either the injuries occurred there somehow or they occurred elsewhere and the body ended up there," Federspiel said.

The bones are undergoing DNA testing in Texas right now. Federspiel is asking anyone with information on who this might be to give his office or police a call.