Death too recent to be victim of Manson Family killing spree.

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Skeletal remains have been discovered in Death Valley, but the person’s identity and manner of death remained a mystery, authorities said Monday.

The Inyo County Sheriff’s Department received a report Thursday of a human skull found in the national park. The next day, investigators aided by a search dog combed the area and found many more bones, Inyo County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Hollowell said.

Hollowell estimated that the remains had been in the desert for two to four years.

“At this time we cannot see any obvious signs of foul play, but I’m not ruling that out,” Hollowell said.

The bones were passed along to the county coroner’s office, which is trying to find an identity and determine how the person died.

Hollowell said the remains were not connected to any Manson family slayings.

Last month an ad hoc team of detectives and forensic investigators probed soil near Death Valley’s Barker Ranch, where Charles Manson and his followers hid following a killing spree in the summer of 1969. Lab tests revealed that at least two sites could be unmarked graves, and the investigators have urged local authorities to excavate.

“This does not have anything to do with Barker Ranch,” Hollowell said.