The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office announced deputies were investigating remains believed to be more than 50 years old in a remote central Arizona ghost town.

On Aug. 18, the Sheriff's Office said a tractor grading the desert floor in an area near Cleator, a ghost town about an hour and twenty minutes north of the Phoenix area, unearthed a wooden casket with human remains inside, according to a YCSO social media post.

While deputies initially expected a typical crime scene, they quickly learned the remains were old, estimated to be anywhere between 55 and 85 years old.

Part of the casket that broke off during the excavation helped YCSO determine the discovery was not a routine death investigation but rather a remnant of the area's history.

The Sheriff's Office is working with local

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