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The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office has determined skeletal remains found in Salt Lake County's Deaf Smith Canyon last weekend belonged to a woman between the age of 30 and 50.

However, as of Tuesday, Unified Police investigators still did not know who the woman was. It may require DNA testing — an option that could take several months to yield results — to finally unlock the mystery, UPD Lt. Brian Lohrke said.

Little more than a skull and other scattered bones, along with a scrap of camouflage-patterned cloth, were recovered by officers and forensics experts Sunday afternoon along Little Willow Creek in the canyon wedged between the larger Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.

Still unknown is how long the bones may have been at the scene, but authorities acknowledge the period could be up to three years.

Earlier, hikers reported finding the bones about 40 yards off a trail skirting the border of U.S. Forest Service land and the city of Cottonwood Heights, near 8800 South and 3700 East. The bones were about 90 feet below a cliff but located on the opposite side of the creek from the canyon wall, so authorities could not be sure if a fall was involved in the death.

If Utah forensics experts are unable to identify the deceased through checks of dental records and missing persons' reports, samples of the bones will be sent to the University of North Texas for DNA testing, Lohrke said.

Twitter: @remims