Police are treating the discovery of human remains beside a four-wheel-driving track in the Sunshine Coast hinterland as suspicious, with indications the body may have been burnt.
At a press conference today, Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Mansfield said the area around the skeletal remains was charred, although he said the state of the bones might be the result of decomposition.
"We're conducting our investigations to firstly ascertain, obviously a cause of death.
"But secondly to that, trying to establish whether it is a male or female at this point in time.
"Our investigations are really only in their infancy, and we really don't have a lot of information at this point in time to support any theories or anything of that nature."
Det Snr Sgt Mansfield said it would be treated as a suspicious death until they find evidence to show otherwise.
He said two men driving on a remote four-wheel-drive track found the remains about midday yesterday.
No phone reception to report bones
"These young gentleman driving four-wheel-drives out there have come across what they believed was a deceased person and it was just off a dirt track in the forestry area there," he said.
Due to a lack of phone reception, they could not report their find until they got home.
The men took police to the scene last night.
Det Snr Sgt Mansfield said only a lighter was found with the remains, which were discovered in heavy scrub off Connection Road in the Beerburrum State Forest.
"It looks like there's at least some charred areas," he said.
"But we're just trying to ascertain whether it's just decomposition -- there's no extended fire area, so we're not ruling that out."
Remains 'not missing 20yo'
He said the level of decomposition meant it was difficult to begin working out a time of death or whether the person died there or was dumped.
Det Snr Sgt Mansfield said the remains would be sent to Brisbane today.
"Pathologists will conduct an autopsy that we're hoping will be done in a matter of days," he said.
He said there were no reports of missing persons in the area, and the remains were not those of Nate Preston, a local 20-year-old who has been missing since May 22.
