New details emerge in Bon Air skeletal remains investigation

New information about skeletal remains found earlier this week on Bon Air Mountain indicates the bones may have been collected elsewhere before being left on property above Wildcat Falls.

White County Sheriff Steve Page said deputies were led to the remains after an inmate reported seeing them at the property several months ago. When deputies went to the location described by the inmate, they found the skeletal remains sitting in a bucket near a bluff.

The area is known as a place where people search for arrowheads, and investigators are now considering the possibility that someone found the bones elsewhere, collected them, and later left them at the property.

Authorities have not said where the remains originally came from or how they ended up in the bucket. However, investigators do not believe the person died at the location where the remains were found.

Page initially confirmed the discovery earlier this week, saying the remains were human and appeared to have been there for a significant amount of time. At the time, investigators could not determine a gender or cause of death.

The White County Sheriff's Office has since worked with the Davidson County Medical Examiner's Office and determined there is no immediate criminal or forensic concern.

Because of the nature of the remains, state law requires the state archaeologist to be notified, and the Tennessee Division of Archaeology is now involved. Officials are working to determine whether the bones are archaeological in nature, including whether they could be Native American remains.

That determination will guide what happens next. If the remains are not archaeological, investigators will work to identify the person they belonged to and determine where they originated. Dental records and DNA could help with an identification, and those findings could be compared with missing-person cases from White County and across the Upper Cumberland.

For now, the property above Wildcat Falls is no longer being treated as an active scene, and authorities have said there is no immediate threat to the public.