Authorities investigate the discovery of unidentified remains of three children, believed to be between 3 and 7 years of age, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The remains believed to be of three children, estimated between the ages of 3 and 7, found in a wooded area of southeast Memphis may have been there for “a few years,” authorities said.
“Somebody knows where these children have come from,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a news conference Wednesday, as authorities conducted search operations along a parkway in the Hickory Hill neighborhood.
“This is heartbreaking. It’s disturbing and, at this time, we have numerous resources to help us to identify these young people and bring closure to this investigation,” Davis said.
There is no indication of any active threat to the public, she added.
Police said the investigation began on March 8, when a person walking their dog discovered possible human remains and reported it to authorities. Responding officers located what appeared to be a human skull near a wooded area along the parkway, police said.
Over the next two days, officers and personnel from the medical examiner’s office conducted an extensive search, canvassing the area with cadaver dogs, which identified the possible presence of additional remains near a drainage pipe.
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2 min readThe drainage system was first inspected using a camera on March 16, and on April 1, nearly three weeks later, authorities accessed the system and found what appeared to be a second skull, officials said. The next day, search teams recovered 14 additional bones consistent with human remains, Davis said.
The identities and circumstances surrounding the deaths are being investigated.
About 170 personnel from local, state and federal agencies – including the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation - conducted a grid search Wednesday along a portion of Ridge Meadow Parkway in efforts to locate additional evidence, police said.
Investigators have reviewed recent missing persons reports in Memphis and found no matches, Davis said.
“We knew that this individual was not, or these individuals were not, persons that were reported out of our area,” Davis said. “We’re going to follow every inch of this investigation, no stone unturned to just look at the possibilities.”
This story has been updated.
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