LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating the discovery of human remains in a remote area of the county earlier this week.

The agency said that at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday it received a call regarding the discovery of skeletal human remains in the Mendocino National Forest just north of Lucerne.

Sheriff’s spokesperson Lauren Berlinn said the Major Crimes Unit and the Coroners Unit, along with the U.S. Forest Service, responded to the scene.

The sheriff’s office is actively working with Lake County’s forensic pathologist and is sending the remains to the California Department of Justice for analysis to determine the identity of the decedent and the cause of death, Berlinn said.

Berlinn said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death is being conducted, with more information expected to be released as the investigation continues.

Over the course of the past several years, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office as well as sheriff’s offices in Humboldt and Mendocino counties have been assisted in such investigations by technological breakthroughs in forensic analysis, in particular DNA technology.

In 2021, technology company Parabon Nanolabs assisted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in identifying a murder victim from 1976.

In May, a Lake County cold case involving skeletal human remains found in 1979 along the Hopland Grade was solved thanks to a combination of detective work and DNA analysis conducted by Texas-based Othram, a company that specializes in forensic genetic genealogy.

Othram also assisted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office identify human remains in a nearly 40-year-old missing person’s case.

If you have any information related to this latest investigation in Lake County, contact the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit via the tipline at 707-262-4088.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, and on Bluesky, @erlarson.bsky.social. Find Lake County News on the following platforms: Facebook, @LakeCoNews; X, @LakeCoNews; Threads, @lakeconews, and on Bluesky, @lakeconews.bsky.social.