TEXARKANA -- A skull found recently along the Red River in Lafayette County was identified as that of an American Indian and is at least a century old, Lafayette County Sheriff Obie Sims said.
The sheriff's office was notified by a rancher about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 18 of a possible human skull found on the bank of the Red River, Sims said.
The rancher found the skull about 7 p.m. while he was moving his cattle away from the rising river. By the time he got back to the farm, it was about 10:30 p.m. The rancher, the sheriff and an Arkansas State Police agent got to the site where the skull was found about 1 a.m. using an all-terrain vehicle.
The skull was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock, where the age of the skull was confirmed, Sims said.
"Someone at the Crime Lab said the skull could be more than 120 years old," the sheriff said. "The skull was turned over to the Crime Lab. It will probably be returned to the Indian Nation and end up in a museum."
State Desk on 12/26/2017