HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Harris County Sheriff's Deputies spent more than four hours investigating a scene where a decomposing body was found in northwest Harris County.
The body was found in a field near Cypress Station Drive and Butterfield Road about 11:30 Monday morning.
The body is believed to be that of a man, but he hasn't been identified, a Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman told Local 2 investigative reporter Jace Larson.
The area around the body was burned, but investigators could not immediately tell if the body had been on fire. Much of the body had decomposed.
A man who was homeless was walking through the area trying to find a place to get out of the rain when he says he found a skull and other human bones under blankets near a tree.
The area is a common place for those without a home to get out of the elements, which the man named Travis was doing just before noon.
"I just went over there to see if I could find a place to make some shelter," Travis said. Travis asked that Local 2 not show his face or give out his last name.
Travis said he was moving some blankets when he made the discovery.
"The next thing I know, I came across a skull," he said. "I didn't pay attention and thought it was plastic."
Travis kept working and rearranging his area.
"I lifted up another piece of the blanket and saw bones underneath it," he said. "It had been sitting there for quite a while. You could tell because a lot of things were decomposed."
Travis found a police officer working nearby. Detectives with the Harris County Sheriff's Office spent hours documenting the scene, but have not released much information.
The medical examiner's office hasn't said how this person died or even if the death is suspicious.
Authorities cleared the scene around 4 p.m.