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Police think they have ID for bones Remains found near Rogue River might be man missing 61/2 years By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune ROGUE RIVER - Investigators suspect the scattered human remains found Saturday in an irrigation ditch near here are those of a Rogue River man missing the past 61/2 years. William Charles Bobo was 63 years old when he disappeared from his rural Rogue River home in March 1995 and was not seen or heard from again. Bobo tops the list of missing people who will be compared to the found remains in hopes of making a positive identification, Jackson County Sheriff's Detective Dan Hobbs said. Bobo is not related to Robert Bobo, a 40-year-old Prospect man who disappeared in the woods near Woodruff Meadows during a deer-hunting trip in 1998, said Hobbs, who is investigating the current case and the disappearance of Robert Bobo. A hiker walking in brush along private lands in the 8500 block of Rogue River Highway found a tennis shoe filled with human bones. Sheriff's deputies were called, and a search of the area turned up a human torso, leg bones, skull and clothing. Sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patton said the remains were not buried and were scattered in thick brush within an old irrigation ditch. An examination of the bones Monday by a Jackson County medical examiner turned up no obvious signs of foul play or a cause of death, Patton said. Doctors planned further study of abrasions found on some of the bones to determine if they were caused by animal bites or whether they indicate some form of injury relevant to the case, Patton said. Investigators also were considering making dental charts from the dead man's mouth in hopes of using them to make a positive identification, Patton said. Monday's examination turned up little other information, Patton said. Detectives could determine only that the remains were of someone dead at least a year, and that the victim had a set of false teeth from the upper portion of his mouth. Investigators also recovered remnants of clothing and other items that were distributed over the area, just north of the city of Rogue River. Sheriff's officials wouldn't reveal what the other items were, but they did say the items could potentially contribute to the identification of the man. With no obvious signs of foul play, investigators are first reviewing local and regional missing-persons cases in hopes of identifying the remains. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.