UPDATED: Human skeletal remains found near Lake Wimico

Gulf County Sheriff's Office investigators recovered several bones identified near Lake Wimico on Sunday.

The bones were later confirmed as human remains by the 14^th Judicial Circuit Medical Examiner's Office.

There are at least two human sets of bones, Sheriff Joe Nugent said, noting that investigators had found three femur bones, indicating at least two people.

“We think maybe this is 50, 60, 70 years old,” Nugent said. “We are just not sure right now what we have.”

Found with the remains were several items that seem to further indicate the bones are quite old and had been in the water some time, Nugent said.

Among those items is an Old Man in the Sea smoking pipe, a button, an Indian head penny and a coin from L.W Lyons Company Clothing Store out of New Orleans, which Nugent said had gone out of business in 1960.

“From what we have found, these items appear to be old,” Nugent said.

The items have been examined by Herman Jones, a retired local teacher who has made a hobby of underwater archeological research. Nugent said Jones dated the items found to 1850-1870.

“It is looking like we may have more of an archeological site than a crime scene,” Nugent said.

Nugent said archeologists from the University of Florida would likely be in the area in the next day or so and would be escorted to the location of filming and review.

Nugent said an answer as to whether the site is historical or criminal should become clearer in a week to 10 days.

Meanwhile, the items, along with the bones, will be forwarded to an anthropologist at either the University of Florida or Florida State University, Nugent said, in order to try to date the bones and items.

“The worst case is we will know in about 30 days,” Nugent said. “We just don’t know what we have yet. There are no reports of missing persons in neighboring counties. No reports in Gulf County. At this time, we just don’t know.”

Nugent encouraged anyone who might have any information pertaining to the bones or the other items found to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 850-227-1115.

The Sheriff's Office received a call at roughly 10 a.m. ET on Sunday from a family camping near Lake Wimico. The family had found what they believed to be human bones along the water's edge.

Investigators from the Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) went to the location and recovered several bones. The Medical Examiner for the 14th Judicial Circuit confirmed them as human.

Investigators have not been able to determine how old the bones are or how long they had been in the water.

The Medical Examiner's Office will perform additional testing before the bones are sent to an anthropologist.

an earlier version of this story

Gulf County Sheriff's Office investigators recovered several bones identified near Lake Wimico on Sunday. The bones were later confirmed as human remains by the Medical Examiner's Office.

The Sheriff's Office received a call at roughly 10 a.m. ET on Sunday from a family camping near Lake Wimico. The family had found what they believed to be human bones along the water's edge.

Investigators from the Sheriff's Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) went to the location and recovered several bones. The Medical Examiner for the 14th Judicial Circuit confirmed them as human.

At this time investigators have not been able to determine how old the bones are or how long they had been in the water. The Medical Examiner's Office will perform additional testing.

Anyone with information about these bones is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 850-227-1115.