Skeletal remains found in Ottawa County sent to Oklahoma medical examiner

The remains found Friday near Cardin could have been there for as long as two years, Ottawa County sheriff's Detective Derek Derwin said Saturday.

Authorities think the remains are from either a Caucasian or Hispanic male between the ages of 18 and 35. The skull appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound, and a .22-caliber rifle was found at the scene, Derwin said.

Cardin was once a prosperous mining community in northern Ottawa County and is within the Tar Creek Superfund site. Lead pollution prompted a federally funded buyout, which left the town abandoned.