An expedition for clay to be used in terracotta pottery led two women to discover a human jaw bone late yesterday afternoon.  They saw the lower jaw bone sticking up through sediment on a sandbar in Shelby Forest.

Today, Shelby County Sheriff’s detectives, volunteers from the Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Bureau and three specially trained dogs that detect human remains searched the sandbar in Shelby Forest.  No other bones were found.

Sheriff’s detectives do not know whether the jaw bone is from a man or woman’s body or how it got to Shelby Forest.  Since the bone was found on a sandbar, investigators say it may have washed down stream from the Mississippi River.

The jaw bone will be sent to a forensics lab in Texas for possible identification. Deputies say there are some teeth in the jaw bone which may help determine the person’s identity. 

Sheriff’s detectives have notified law enforcement agencies across the nation about the discovery.