SANDPOINT - A portion of a skull that was found earlier this week in the Hoodoo Valley is still awaiting analysis, according to Bonner County sheriff's officials.

The round-shaped portion of bone was found on Tuesday and it remained unclear on Thursday if it is part of a human skull.

Sheriff's Capt. Ror Lakewold said it appears to be the top of a skull. There is no mandible, maxilla or bony sockets that would make it readily identifiable as human.

Deputies scoured the area where the bone was found, but found no other fragments were discovered.

"That's all that was found," said Lakewold.

The bone fragment appeared to have been in the woods a long time, he added.

Sheriff's officials sought to stay mum about the discovery until they were sure of its origin to avoid giving false hope or alarming the loved ones of missing persons in Bonner County.

There are 12 active missing persons investigations in Bonner County, according to the Idaho State Police Missing Persons Clearinghouse.

The disappearances stretch as far back as the 1980s and some are as current as April. Two of the disappearances are presumed drownings at Priest Lake.

Lakewold said investigators expect to know whether the skull fragment is human by next week.

"We're making phone calls to see where we can send it to make some of those determinations and see what kind of information we can extract from what we have," he said.