A hiker stumbled across a human skull in a rural area near Los Gatos Monday morning, a sheriff's sergeant said.
The skull was found in the area of Montevina Road and Sherrys Way and reported to the sheriff's office at about 9 a.m., Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. James Jensen said.
Deputies responded and confirmed it was a human skull. Sheriff's detectives, crime scene investigators and search and rescue crews with cadaver dogs continued searching the area till the end of Monday.
So far they have not found any other remains, Jensen said, adding: ""We trying to figure out any leads or any evidence we can find out there."
According to Jensen, there's also the possibility that evidence could link the skull to unsolved crimes, including the disappearance of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra Lamar.
"It’s a tragic event and we hope it is Sierra Lamar, so we can give closure to the family," Jensen said. "[But] we don’t know right now. All we have is a human skull."
Investigators are also not ruling out the possibility that the skull could be a part of a Native American burial site. Those types of remains have been discovered all throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains in the past.
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It remains unclear how the skull got there, how long it’s been there or even if the coroner will be able to identify the victim.
Santa Clara Co sheriff's investigating the discovery of a human skull in the hills above Los Gatos pic.twitter.com/rx8Q44qCyH — Cheryl Hurd (@hurd_hurd) October 13, 2015
