UPDATE:
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office has identified the human remains located at the clay pits in Milton as Brad Christopher Mathews, age 37. The Milton resident was listed as missing-endangered in early January and there has been an active investigation since then, according to a SRSO press release.
The cause of death remains under investigation by the state's medical examiner's office.
Original article:
Authorities say it's too soon to say how long a body lay undiscovered in the woods near a clay pit in Milton. However, they believe dental records will match it to a missing person case.
They're "99 percent" sure that the skeletal remains were that of a male, according to Capt. Bob Johnson with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office. The bones are at the medical examiner's office, where the determination will be made. Johnson said, Friday morning, he was sure he would get a positive ID later in the day but was unable to provide one by press time.
The remains were discovered in a wooded area near a clay pit on county land, about 300 yards from the nearest road in a piece of property typically only used by county employees. It's at the dead end of B. Lowery Road in Milton. Johnson said he believed a county employee found the bones.
Johnson said many factors affect how quickly a body decomposes, from weather to animals and insects in the area. Because of that, there's no way for them to immediately know how long the body was there before being discovered.
"It could be six months," he said. "It could be six years. There's no way to tell."
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: UPDATE: Identity revealed in human remains case