Human remains were found in two suitcases left on the side of a road in Denver on Tuesday.
The discovery was made by Denver Parks and Recreation workers who were plowing snow from the sidewalk along the Sanderson Gulch Trail in the southwest of the city when they stumbled across the suitcases around 7:15 a.m.,
They saw what they believed to be body parts inside and alerted authorities, Denver Police Department's Major Crimes Division Lt. Matt Clark told reporters on Wednesday.
Members of the Denver Police Department's homicide unit, the medical examiner's office and the crime lab unit arrived at the scene at the 1700 block of South Java Way in the Mar Lee neighborhood.
The remains were later confirmed to be that of a "recently deceased adult white male," Clark said, citing the Office of the Medical Examiner.
The victim has yet to be identified and authorities are so far unable to say how the man died or how he came to be located on the street, KMGH-TV reports.
The case is currently being treated as a homicide, although Denver police said they were not aware of any recent missing persons whose description aligns with the remains.
Investigators are gathering surveillance footage from nearby homes and interviewing residents in the area.
The investigation is ongoing and no information is known about potential suspects in the case. Police would not comment on the state of the body.
"It's a potential that this press briefing might spark that call that we're waiting for," Clark said.
Newsweek has contacted the Denver Police Department for comment.
It is not the first time human remains have been found by public works employees or those passing by.
Police are appealing for help to identify a young girl whose remains were unearthed in woodland in Oregon on December 30.
The remains of the child, who is believed to have been between 6.5 and 10 years old when she died, were found near a rest stop in a heavily wooded area in Lincoln County.
The discovery was made off the H.B. Van Duzer Forest State Scenic Corridor—a state park which travels along Highway 18 from Polk County to Lincoln City.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office estimated the girl had had long dark brown or black hair, and stood between 3 ft 10 in and 4 ft 6 tall.
DNA analysis is underway to help determine the child's race or ethnic origin, Oregon State Police said.
In October, human skeletal remains were found in the woods surrounding a park outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The remains were discovered by a hunter, about 100 yards off of Spring Miller Road bordering Boyce Park, Allegheny County Police told Newsweek.
And in September, backpackers walking through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were horrified to discover a bear feasting on human remains near a campsite.
The hikers said they also spotted an empty tent at backcountry campsite 82, near the Hazel Creek Trail.
Rangers and wildlife experts scrambled to the scene shortly after midnight where they found the bear eating the remains of a man.
The dead man has since been identified as 43-year-old Patrick Madura of Elgin, Illinois.
