This Tuesday, three hikers discovered what seemed to be a human skull near the South Yuba Fork Bridge while exploring rugged terrain in Nevada City. They returned to the bridge to report the find using an emergency phone, as cell service was poor in the area, according to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

Following their emergency call, Nevada County Sheriff’s Office deputies joined the hikers as they re-traced their steps to the site, with one hiker guiding them along the makeshift trail. Confirmation was made after deputies located additional skeletal remains, setting in motion a recovery operation involving multiple agencies. The recovery team included NCSO detectives, California State Parks personnel, the Chico State Anthropology Department, and the Nevada County Sheriff's Search & Rescue volunteers planning the retrieval for the following day, as per a Nevada County Sheriff's Office Facebook post.

NCSO Captain Sean Scales provided details on the recovery efforts, stating, "The team has been out for the better part of today, carefully extracting located human remains and evidence for future examination," shedding light on the painstaking process undertaken to preserve potential evidence. The Chico State Anthropology Department's expertise will be vital in potentially discerning details such as gender, race, stature, and age of the unidentified individual, with the hopes that these insights will assist in the ensuing investigation, as per NCSO.

The NCSO is leading the death investigation at California State Parks' request, with remains and the scene being examined by a forensic anthropologist from Chico State, followed by DNA analysis. This thorough investigation aims to identify the deceased and determine the cause of death.