Authorities: Remains found near Deep Run not human

Searchers walk back to the command post at Gray Branch FWB Church as numerous law enforcement agencies searched the area Wednesday morning. Suspected human remains turned out to be a bear foot.

DEEP RUN | Where the rest of the bear lies is up for debate, but a dog picked up the remains of its foot and set off a large-scale search Wednesday morning.

Initial examinations of the foot led to debate that it could have come from a person, so investigators and dogs combed woods and creeks in and around Gray Branch under cold overcast skies that fit with the name.

We had a dog that found a foot, and originally the doctor could not determine if it was human, or if it was an animal, Lenoir County Sheriff Ronnie Ingram said. First of all, there was very little meat on it, so really, you couldnt tell. And the next one goes, I think its a human. But, nobody would commit 100 percent.

The State Medical Examiners Office in Greenville took possession of the remains and after a thorough examination, concluded the foot came from the rear left leg of a bear.

But before that determination, law enforcement and search and rescue crews filled the parking lot at Gray Branch FWB Church.

All we knew is the dog brought it up we did not know where it got it from, Ingram said. So, we were having to do a grid search to try to see if we could find anything else.

Among the agencies responding to the scene were the Lenoir County Sheriffs Office, the Johnston County Sheriffs Office, the Wayne County Sheriffs Office, the Arr-Mac Search and Rescue Team from Wayne County, the Coastal Carolina Search Team from Greenville, Greenville Fire and Rescue, Gates County Emergency Services and N.C. Emergency Management. Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.

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Authorities: Remains found near Deep Run not human