Queensland police are urging anyone with information that may help them identify human remains found in bushland northwest of Noosa to come forward.

November 2, 2020

Human remains, likely to be those of a woman who died more than two years ago, have been found in bushland in Queensland’s Wide Bay area.

A member of the public discovered the skeletal remains near the Bruce Highway, northwest of Noosa, on October 11.

A further police search found more bones, including a left femur, a jaw bone and teeth, Detective Inspector Gary Pettiford told reporters on Monday.

“We’ve got an unknown person who has perished in the bush near Gympie. The focus of the investigation is to repatriate those bones to loved ones,” he said.

“Our best estimation is that the bones had been there for over two years.”

Investigators haven’t established who the person is or how and why the bones were in the bush.

“There are three possible scenarios,” Det Insp Pettiford said.

“One is it was an unfortunate accident, that someone has wandered into the bush and perished.

“It could be suicide or the third scenario is that it could be something more sinister … a homicide.”

He said a scientific examination found it was likely the deceased person was a female about 150 to 165 cm tall.

The person had a 15cm metal implant in their left leg near their knee.

Detectives are working to identify the manufacturer with hopes it may help them identify the skeleton.

“It would have been a substantial fracture and a substantial surgery that would have taken place to insert that plate,” Det Insp Pettiford said.

Police have urged anybody with information that may help them identify the person to contact Crime Stoppers.

Numerous items of clothing were found in the surrounding area, including a blue polo shirt, a pair of track pants and size six Jetstar basketball-style sneakers.