Skeletal Remains Found in Park by Hiker Identified as Missing Man

A hunter in New Jersey found skeletal remains belonging to a man who was reported missing months ago, according to police.

The remains of Peter Meyers, 68, were found by a man hunting in a remote part of Wharton State Forest on Tuesday, October 4, according to the Cherry Hill Police Department (CHPD).

Police later identified the remains and confirmed they were those of Meyers, who was reported missing in the summer.

A cause of death hasn't yet been determined and police have said an investigation is ongoing.

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), 600,000 people in the U.S. go missing every year.

NamUS added that 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered each year, with approximately 1,000 remaining unidentified after 12 months.

In a Friday, October 7, statement, a CHPD spokesperson said: "Prior to receiving the report, Meyers' vehicle was found abandoned on a dirt access road leading to a Waterford NJ section of Wharton State Forest.

"In June and July, the Cherry Hill Police Department and the New Jersey State Park Police teamed with the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit, the Camden County Search and Rescue Team, and the Waterford Township Police Department to conduct extensive searches of dense woodland areas within Wharton State Forest."

The police statement continued: "No signs of Peter Meyers or clues as to his whereabouts were located."

A CHPD spokesperson later told Newsweek: "We do not believe there was foul play involved.

"Unfortunately with the death unwitnessed and without there being definitive cause the case is still being investigated."

Anyone with any information about Meyers or the circumstances surrounding his disappearance or death is asked to call the New Jersey State Park Police at (877) 927-6337 or Detective Chris Hendy of the Cherry Hill Police Department at (856) 488-8826.

Tips can also be sent to the CHPD anonymously by emailing tips@cherryhillpolice.com.

In September, dogs were found playing with a human skull in a yard in Birmingham, Alabama, according to police. The dogs' owner notified police when he saw that they were playing with the skull as he left for work on the morning of Friday, September 23.

Fox affiliate WBRC reported that the dogs brought the human skull to the 400 block of Albany Place from a nearby area.

That same month, a man's body was found in a car at a Taco Bell parking lot in Nebraska, according to police. Lincoln Police Department officials were alerted to reports of an unconscious man at the fast-food restaurant off S 27th Street and Southpointe Trail.

The officers found a 22-year-old man dead in the driver's seat of a gray sedan. A Taco Bell employee told police that the vehicle had been parked in the lot for at least one day, according to CBS affiliate KOLN.