Human bones found in planters near San Francisco's Alamo Square in November have been identified as those of a child and another individual, police said Wednesday.
The bones were found by a resident in the 1300 block of McAllister Street on Nov. 23 while she was gardening, according to police.
The medical examiner has confirmed that the bones are human, belonging to a child 8 to 14 years old and to another individual of unknown age, according to police Officer Grace Gatpandan.
The identities and genders of both people remain unknown. The medical examiner's office is now working to extract DNA from the bones and submit it to databases in the hopes that it will match with missing persons or other cases, Gatpandan said.
Homicide investigators are working the case and police are looking at missing persons cases in the area, but Gatpandan said it was unclear at this point whether foul play was involved.
"Those remains could have been put there numerous ways," she said today. "The juvenile could have died of natural causes. They might not have come from San Francisco, they could have come from anywhere."
Gatpandan said cadaver dogs were used to search the area after the bones were discovered, but no additional remains were found.
