PATRICK K. O'NEIL, Coroner of Will County, Illinois

Land surveyors discovered the human skull at the Manhattan Creek approximately 200 feet west of Rowell Avenue between Manhattan Road and Brown Road, Jackson Township, Will County.    The Will County Coroner and the Will County Sheriff recovered the unidentified skull at the above location and submitted it to a forensic anthropologist for analysis.  
The following is a summary of the findings:
The decedent is most likely a male, white, 30 years of age or older.  Although no teeth were recovered, an abscess on the right maxilla suggests the possibility of an oral infection.  Additionally, a healing fracture of the nasal bone is suggestive of a broken nose.  The interval between the time of death and the time of discovery could not be definitively determined other than the individual died at least one year prior to discovery.  Due to the limited amount of recovered skeletal remains, no other characteristics could be determined.   The cause and manner of death will remain undetermined at this time.
A portion of the skull was sent to the University of North Texas for DNA analysis.  If DNA is successfully extracted, the profile will be entered into CODIS and NamUS (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System). Both systems were created to assist in solving cases that involve unidentified human remains (www.NamUs.gov)
 
Anyone with information is asked to call the Will County Coroner’s Office at 815-727-8455 or the Will County Sheriff’s Police Investigations at 815-727-8574.