(Pleasant Hill, IA) -- Two teen girls walking on a sandbar in the Des Moines River this weekend called their Dad asking him to come back... they said they found something. When he got there in the boat, he called 9-1-1 and Sheriff's Deputies confirmed it.
"Some campers out by Yellow Banks Park were out on a sandbar and located a human skull." Says Polk County Sheriff's Captain Ryan Evans.
"We called in our investigators, we canvassed the area to see if there more remains other than the skull, but no other human remains were found at all." Evans says.
The girls' father posted a photo of the skull on a local social media site and people who commented, wondered if it might be Johnny Gosch or Jodi Huisentruit, two high profile Iowa missing persons cases. The post has since been removed.
Jonny Gosch went missing 42 years ago when he was 12-years-old, while delivering newspapers in West Des Moines. Jodi Huisentruit a Mason City TV Anchor has been missing for nearly 30 years.
Another boy, 13-year-old Eugene Martin went missing in Des Moines two years after Johnny Gosch disappeared, also while delivering newspapers.
Although it is only speculation at this point, one commenter who identified themselves as a medical examiner said the skull appears to be that of a child, and likely dates back 50 to 100 years.
Captain Evans says the skull has been taken to the Iowa Medical Examiner's Lab for inspection and possible identification.
Photos by permission.