Watch CBS News

Santa Ana PD Investigating After OC Streetcar Project Construction Workers Find Human Remains

SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — The Santa Ana Police Department Wednesday launched a homicide investigation after construction workers on the OC Streetcar project found human remains at a former scrap yard.

"There's a rib cage, what appears to be to two femurs and some other leg bones — possibly arm bones," Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. "That's all that's the extent of what's exposed at this point."

According to the Santa Ana police, the bones were found Wednesday morning in the 2000 block of West Fifth Street on a property that workers were converting to a maintenance yard for the project.

An anthropologist assigned to the project said the bones appeared to be human, an observation confirmed by the Orange County Coroner's Division and police. Police said the bones appeared to have been buried six feet in the ground.

Before the property was a scrap yard, it was the site of homes, and Bartagna said investigators would be working to find out when the bones were buried and whether foul play was involved.

"Those are all questions that they're going to look into," he said. "And it's a difficult investigation for our detectives."

An archeologist was called out to the site and would be working with detectives to determine the age of the bones.

The OC Streetcar is an electric-powered light-rail line planned for the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.