FULTON — Arkansas State Police are working with Louisiana forensic experts to determine if a female skeleton found on a Red River sandbar is a missing Ashdown woman.
Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton told the Texarkana Gazette that authorities believe the remains could be 42-year-old Janice Northcross, who has been missing since Feb. 8. Authorities say Northcross jumped or fell in the Red River near Fulton to avoid a tractor-trailer that was skidding toward her on an icy Interstate 30 bridge.
Singleton says state police have sent DNA from the bones to the Caddo Parish sheriff's office in Louisiana. The office will work with the county coroner and Louisiana State University forensic anthropologists.
Authorities found the skeleton last week near Fulton after dove hunters discovered a skull.