Authorities have not been able to identify the origins of a human leg that was found last year in the Gastineau Channel.
But investigators determined it had been in the channel for more than 10 years, the Juneau Empire reported Wednesday.
Douglas Indian Association and Natural Resources Consultants Inc. had been collecting old fishing gear from the bottom of the channel May 22, 2017, when workers pulled a human leg with a boot still attached from the water.
Kamal Lindoff, the project manager who pulled the leg up, said it was found in front of Lucky Me, a small community on south Douglas Island.
Police released very few details about the leg, not specifying the race or gender.
A year later, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Zientek said his office wasn’t able to get any useful DNA from the leg because it had deteriorated in the water.
“So it’s almost impossible to match it up to a missing person,” Zientek said.
He said a forensic pathologist examined the bone and estimated it was more than 10 years old based on how worn down it was.
The bone remains stored at the examiner’s office in case they can figure out a way down the line to do effective testing.
A dive team searched the area where the leg was found, JPD Lt. Krag Campbell said, and found nothing else.
