TROUP, Texas — Officials are investigating after human remains were found near FM 346 between Troup and Whitehouse Sunday afternoon.
The Smith County Sheriff's Office received a call about human remains found in the 15400 block of FM 346 East. Deputies and Troup Police Department officers found the remains on Rufus Dews' property, who called 911 upon discovering the body.
"I said well call the sheriff’s office and tell them we found a dead body," Dews said.
The remains were located on an oil well service road about 100 yards off FM 346. Dews described the area as a heavily wooded.
"Kind of swamped in and it’s a lot of timber in there," Dews said.
Smith County Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Derrick Choice came to the scene and ordered an autopsy. The remains were taken to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas. The body has not been identified yet.
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said the remains were found in a ditch, which had been underwater within the last week or so.
"So it could have been there as much as up to a week to 10 days," Smith said.
Investigators are confident they will have leads to follow, which will ultimately lead to the identity of the suspect(s), the sheriff's office said. Smith said foul play is suspected due to the condition of the body.
"It was actually dropped at that location without a doubt in order to secrete the body from somebody finding it," Smith said. "It’s a convenient road for somebody to be driving by trying to dispose of a body to go down and to do that disposing of it."
The sheriff's office said more information will be released as it becomes available.