Authorities are not releasing any information on remains found Sunday in East Chicago until they have a positive ID on them.

East Chicago officers were called around 5 p.m. on Sunday to 149th Place and Parrish Avenue for possible human remains found near the railroad tracks, according to a release issued Monday. There, they spoke to a man who said he was walking in the area when he saw what looked like a human skull in the grassy area, the release said.

After the man took them to the skull, officers called in the Lake County Coroner’s office and the Lake County Prosecutor’s office Homicide Task Force, where further searching yielded the bottom jaw of the skull, the release said.

During a more thorough search Monday the task force detectives found a jacket and part of a vertebrae through the assistance of a drone and cadaver K-9.

Deputy Chief Coroner Yvette Manfredy said in a release that the coroner’s office is working with a family and will be procuring dental records, but it won’t release any information until it identifies the person.

“At this time it appears the remains might have been there for quite some time,” the East Chicago Police release said. “A more accurate timeline and cause of death will be determined at a later date.”

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.