Police in York Region are investigating after human skull was discovered in a wooded area in Vaughan, Ont.

Det. Sgt. John Braybrook told reporters at the scene that police are treating the discovery as suspicious.

“We have no indication whether there is any criminality at this point,” he said.

Braybrook said a passerby discovered the skull while walking in a wooded area close to Bathurst Street and Highway 407 on Sunday afternoon.

He said police are now looking for other human remains in the area. The search effort is expected to take a few days.

“What we encounter in areas such as these is that do you get what they call animal scatter, so animals will pick up a bone and take it away and deposit it in a different area,” Braybrook said Monday.

He said the skull could belong to an individual that met with foul play, or it could have belonged to a homeless person that may have been living at a nearby golf and country club. 

“Once we identify whether it’s male or female … we’ll be in a better position to begin our background checks on whether it was a missing person and whatnot,” he said.

Results from DNA test could take weeks, Braybrook added.

Meantime, detectives will continue to investigate at the scene.