GASTONIA, N.C. — The Gastonia Police Department is investigating after human remains were found in a park, officials said.

The remains were discovered Sunday afternoon near Catawba Creek behind Ferguson Park, according to reports.

A man was playing baseball with his friends when he said they found human remains.

One of the players went to get some balls they hit out of the park.

He crossed a creek on the back side of this field and found the remains.

“It was just freaky,” Cody Martin said.

Martin said, at first, he didn’t believe his friend who said he found the bones.

Then Martin went into the woods and saw the remains near a hill.

“I could look right here, and I could spin in a circle, and I could see, literally, bones surround me,” Martin said.

They called police.

“I try not to think about it too much, but it just pops up in my head,” Martin said.

Martin and his friends looked on their cellphones for information hoping to find the family with a loved one who left home and never returned.

“We were all looking through Facebook and everything, trying to find every missing person,” Martin said.

Detectives said there were no obvious signs of trauma to the body, but that doesn’t mean the person wasn’t killed.

“It could be a situation where the person may not have even died there and somehow the remains ended up there,” said Rick Goodall, Gastonia Police department.

They said the person wasn’t a very young child and could have been dead for a week or years.

Detectives hope the medical examiner can provide an identification through DNA that tells them who died.

It could take time to find out how the person died and if anyone is responsible.

“There’s a lot of work left to be done in this case,” Goodall said.

Police haven’t said how long it will take to get a DNA match.

They have gotten an ID within a week in some cases, but that all depends on how many other cases the medical examiner is working.

This is a developing story, check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

(WATCH BELOW: Victim identified, second suspect charged with murder after remains found in Huntersville)

Victim identified, second suspect charged with murder after remains found in Huntersville

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