KEIZER, Ore. — A crew cleaning up along I-5 in Marion County found a human skull and reported the discovery on Monday, according to Oregon State Police.
A cleanup crew from the Oregon Department of Correction was working along the I-5 northbound lanes near Keizer shortly after 9:15 a.m. on Monday when they made the grisly discovery and notified OSP.
Troopers from OSP's Salem Area Command responded, finding that the crew had indeed found a human skull inside of a small backpack.
Police took the skull to the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office, where staff are still working to find out the identity of the person. While the skull had no identifiable features, OSP said, it was most likely that of a woman in her late 30s or early 40s.
In late 2020, a passerby found the body of a young girl stashed inside of a duffle bag in the woods of Lincoln County, along the H.B. Van Duzer Scenic Corridor. Investigators were eventually able to use DNA to identify her as 9-year-old Haley Mae Coblentz.
In Michigan, police tracked down Coblentz's mother, 29-year-old Shawna Browning, and 34-year-old Lauren Harrison, charging them both with the child's murder. However, charges were later dropped without explanation.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge.
