Human skull discovered in backpack during highway cleanup effort

A prison crew from the Oregon Department of Corrections discovered a human skull discarded inside a backpack near a major highway, authorities say.

Oregon State Police said in a statement they were called after a “suspicious object” was found near Interstate 5, about 75 miles south of Portland in Marion County, on Monday morning.

The skull had “no identifiable features” and is thought to belong to a woman in her late 30s or 40s, state police said in a statement.

The remains have been taken to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office who are working to identify the victim.

Police have not released any other information.

Interstate 5 is a major thoroughfare that stretches from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington state.

In 2018, a human skull was found by highway workers a few miles away in Douglas County near an off-ramp on Interstate 5.

More than a year later, it was identified as belonging to 44-year-old Oregon man Scott Evenson, who went missing in 2016, according to Oregon Live.

Evenson’s disappearance was never reported to police, but he had been listed as missing on a Facebook group, according to CBS News.