Skull found by hunter decades ago is now identified as missing California 4-year-old

A little more than three decades ago, a hunter was roaming a rural area, looking for quail, when they stumbled upon a human skull, according to a California sheriff’s department.

Despite searching the Mentone area for additional remains, deputies found none, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a June 22 news release.

However, officials did find “a torn plastic trash bag with decomposition odor and child’s clothing,” which was kept as evidence, deputies said.

The sheriff’s department said an autopsy showed the skull, which had no teeth or jaw, belonged to a child between the ages of 4 and 8. The coroner’s office could not determine a cause of death.

With no other leads, “the case went cold,” deputies said.

Now, thanks to DNA technology, the remains have been identified as a missing 4-year-old boy — Derrick Burton, according to the sheriff’s department.

Deputies said the remains were identified after DNA from the remains were sent to Othram Inc., a forensic genealogy company, last fall.

Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.

Othram’s testing found potential “distant genetic relatives” of the child, and with the help of FBI offices in California and Texas, deputies said they contacted the child’s mother, Patricia Clark.

Deputies said they learned Clark had reported her son “missing to the San Bernardino Police Department in 1991,” but he was never found.

Clark’s DNA sample showed she was a “100% parental match” to the remains found decades ago, confirming them to belong to the missing child, Derrick, deputies said.

The sheriff’s department said it is investigating Derrick’s death as a homicide. Anyone with information is asked to contact deputies at 909-890-4904.

Mentone is about 65 miles east of Los Angeles.

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