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Man who found skeletal remains posts discovery on Facebook

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – It’s something he couldn’t have imagined he would stumble across: skeletal remains.

“Oh God, it’s like somebody just died here,” said the man who discovered the body in a live Facebook post.

Police were called to investigate the find on the 2000 block of Brushy Creek Road Tuesday afternoon, which is just southeast of U.S. Highway 79 and Red Bud Lane. The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office is still trying to identify the remains.

Sheriff Robert Chody says the person who filmed the scene compromised their investigation by touching evidence.

“They can cover the prints of a suspect if it is a homicide,” Chody said. “They can add their DNA to a small amount of DNA that’s available on the scene, so it compromises the investigation from a criminal.”

Although it’s not clear if this was a crime scene, Chody says never touch evidence that could help law enforcement decide that fact. He also says you should call 911 immediately if you come across a similar scene, something this person who filmed the scene did later.

“(He) actually went home – and I don’t know how close home is – retrieved his iPad and went back to the scene and started the Facebook Live recording,” Chody said.

A few minutes into the Facebook Live, you can see the man run to a nearby parking lot and ask another man to call police.

“Sir, I don’t have my phone, can you call the police, I found a body back there,” he says in the video.

After speaking with deputies, the man in the video realized he may have done some things wrong.

“He did admit he made some mistakes so I’m fortunate that he did that,” Chody said.

The evidence is now in the hands of a medical examiner to determine how this person died. At this point, Chody says it does not appear to be a homicide.