NATIONAL PARK — Officials say it will take several weeks to analyze DNA collected from a human leg found on the Delaware River shoreline on Sunday.
The decomposed lower leg and foot have no markings, and no clothing or shoe were attached, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
The office is working with area police departments to come up with an identity.
Samples collected from the limb will be compared with DNA from people reported missing, officials said.
When bodies are found in such circumstances, investigators typically reach out to agencies on both sides of the Delaware River.
That includes the Delaware River Port Authority — which manages several Delaware River bridges — in case the body part belongs to a bridge jumper.
A woman was walking her dog along the shoreline in National Park on Sunday when she found the limb, which had apparently washed up from the river, authorities said. No other body parts were found.
The limb was transported to the Gloucester County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination.
Authorities have not indicated if this incident is possibly related to the Feb. 16 discovery of a nude male body hanging over a bulkhead in the area of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers in Philadelphia.
The man’s legs were severed and his head was partially decapitated, according to Philadelphia Police Department. That case was ruled a homicide, police confirmed Monday.
The area where the body was discovered is directly across the river from National Park.
Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
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