Human remains found believed to be of infant

WEST PALM BEACH — The remains of what investigators believe is an infant were found at a Solid Waste Authority facility in West Palm Beach.

Just before 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the West Palm Beach Police Department received a call from a worker at one of the Solid Waste Authority plants, according to police spokesman Mike Jachles. A garbage truck was dumping its contents at the tipping floor after entering the Renewable Energy Facility at 6501 N. Jog Road when workers discovered the human remains.

“This was an indoor facility, versus had this been in a landfill or somewhere where we might not have ever recovered them,” Jachles said at a Wednesday news conference. “There are a number of what-ifs, but we’re not gonna hypothesize, what we’re gonna do is base our investigation on the facts.”

Jachles said the remains were found after most of the loads from the tipping floor had already been cleared.

Detectives believe the human remains found belong to a baby; the Medical Examiner’s Office is now investigating, Jachles said.

Detectives, crime scene investigators, and officers were combing through piles of garbage with their hands, rakes, and other tools looking for more remains, Jachles said. Police said no other remains were recovered by midnight Tuesday, other than what the workers had already found.

Detectives are reviewing surveillance videos to track the movement of trucks that were coming into the facility. Once those details are known, detectives can track the truck’s route and hope to establish where the remains came from.

Jachles said there are other methods to gather leads in the investigation. “We have DNA, genealogy, things like that can be utilized and detectives are looking at all possible means to identify who the remains belong to,” Jachles said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Sgt. Dennis Hardiman at 561-822-1896. If you wish to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1 800-458-8477. If your tip leads to an arrest, you may receive a cash reward.

“Regardless of age, when we find human remains that were discarded in the garbage. We don’t know how they got there, we need to determine how they got there, and where they came from,” Jachles said.