Property owner enters shed for first time in a year, finds human remains, Pennsylvania police say

 ERIE, Pa. − Police are looking to use DNA testing or other identification techniques as they investigate human skeletal remains that were discovered in an abandoned shed in a rural Pennsylvania county on Tuesday night.

The property owner said they discovered the body after entering the shed for the first time about a year, according to Lt. Mark Weindorf, crime section supervisor for the state police's Troop E.

The remains were found in a shed in Freehold Township, a small town in the northwestern part of the state about 60 miles southeast of Erie.

Weindorf said investigators plan to use DNA or other techniques, such as dental records, to try to identify the body. State police will also review reports on missing persons, Weindorf said.

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He said police are getting assistance from Dennis Dirkmaat, chair of the department of applied forensic sciences at Mercyhurst University in Erie.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.