Man’s remains to be cremated

LEWISTON – Officials in North Idaho say they intend to finally cremate the remains of an unidentified man whose bones were discovered more than 23 years ago in a Lewiston cemetery.

Nez Perce County Commissioners made the decision Monday.

The bones of the mystery man were unearthed from a shallow grave in September 1989 while cemetery workers were preparing another burial plot.

The Lewiston Tribune reports about 33 pieces of bone – including the skull – were recovered and have been held in police evidence since.

Police intend to extract DNA samples from the bones and send the material to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in case a match can ever be made.