Police investigating human remains found in Rittman

RITTMAN, Ohio - Authorities combed through a wooded area after human remains were found in Rittman.

According to Rittman police, a hunter found the remains late Monday night in an isolated wooded area along Chippewa Creek.

"He's an avid hunter, I guess. He though that it was too large for any animals. So that's when he made contact with us," Rittman Police Sgt. Roger Pauley said.

The Wayne County Coroner and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification Crime Scene Unit spent Tuesday processing the scene to determine the remains were human, according to the police department.

Crews searched the area and collected possible evidence, but the identity and gender of the remains have not been determined, Rittman police said.

“Once everything has been properly collected, it can then be studied and analyzed with the hopes of answering all the questions this case presents,” a new release from the police department Wednesday afternoon said.

The property the remains were found on is about 1,200 acres and is owned by the Morton Salt company. The factory is about a half mile north of where the bones were found.

"It's our well operation. We extract brine for salt production,” Morton Salt plant manager Tim DeClerck said. He said only two men actually work at that spot and only do periodic checks on a series of salt wells.

Police said both of those workers are accounted for and no one in the area has been reported missing.