Sheriff’s deputies were called to a wooded area in Caldwell County on Tuesday afternoon after skeletal remains were found.

Sources told Channel 9 a skull was found by turkey hunters in a heavily wooded area.

By midafternoon, both the FBI and SBI had joined the search.

Eighteen months ago, deputies searched woods just a couple of miles away for the remains of 10-year-old Zahra Baker.  The girl’s stepmother, Elisa Baker, pleaded guilty in her death last year. Some of Zahra’s remains were found scattered across Caldwell County.

Deputies said they never found her skull.  

Eyewitness News asked the sheriff about the search on Tuesday and Zahra's case. 

“It is quite a distance, but still, it is within the area,” he said.

There has been little news about the case since Elisa Baker pleaded guilty last September, but Tuesday’s search brought back memories of the case for people who live nearby.

“I would hate for it to be her,” neighbor Sonja Greer said. “I'm glad there would be closure to it, but I still wouldn't want that here around my house.”

The sheriff said it could be awhile before the remains are identified.  He said whatever is recovered will be sent off to a state lab to be tested.