The remains of two bodies have been found in the area of Woleben Road in the town of Portland in Chautauqua County, Sheriff James Quattrone said Tuesday.
On Sunday, a person walking near the trail off Woleben Road searching for lost items came across a human skull, the Times Observer reports.
By late Monday morning, members of the Sheriff’s Office and county Forensic Investigation Team could be seen just off the road, about a mile east of Prospect Station Road. Yellow crime scene tape was placed near where the discovery was made.
The second remains were found Monday night and were confirmed to be human Tuesday morning. Investigators were searching a wooded area near the Alison Wells Ney Nature Trail of the Chautauqua Rails to Trails system when the discovery was made.
“As a result of an area search in the area of Woleben Road we have located the remains of a second body,” Quattrone told The Post-Journal. “At this time we have no idea on gender or timeline on how long body has been here. We do believe that the second body was left at the location much more recent.”
In addition to the county Forensic Investigation Team, the Sheriff’s Office said it was receiving assistance at the scene by the Mercyhurst Forensic Anthropology Department.
Asked if the Sheriff’s Office was treating the discovery of the human remains as suspicious, Quattrone responded: “Absolutely.”
“At this time, there isn’t a timeline on identification,” Quattrone added.
ccording to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, there are seven missing people from Chautauqua County, and the sheriff’s office is focused on the cases of three missing women.
“Our hope is to be able to get some closure for one of the families,” said Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff and his team of investigators are focusing in on three missing person cases going back to 1976.
“We are hoping that with some dental records and some DNA, that we may be able to rule many of them out and, but at this point, we don’t have any definite answers,” says Sheriff Quattrone.
28-year-old Patricia Laemmerhirt disappeared in 1976. Living in Westfield, less than ten miles from the trail where the remains were found, sheriff’s deputies have DNA samples from the New York State Police, but do not have any dental records for her.
The next case is from the 1990s. Lori Bova was 26 when she disappeared from Lakewood in 1997. Lori’s family last saw her at a dinner celebration, and her sister says she seemed tense the whole time. Bova’s husband later told police he had a fight with Lori later that night, and she went out to get some air and never came back.
Corrie Anderson disappeared in 2008. The Jamestown mother of three was 36 at the time and was reported missing after missing an afternoon meeting and not picking her son up from school. Anderson was last seen at a car dealership. Her van was found two days after she disappeared.
These are the three the sheriff says they are focusing on right now.
