MARSHALL COUNTY, Iowa — Authorities in Iowa announced this week that a human jawbone found last month belonged to a prehistoric person.

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office said that on Aug. 11, a conservation staff conducting a biological and wildlife survey found a possible human lower jawbone in the Iowa River.

Officials said the jawbone was intact, but it had deteriorated to the point that they believed it was several years old.

Investigators also found three other potential human bones in the area, the department said.

According to the news release, the county medical examiner was called in to collect the findings and sent them to the state's medical examiner's office for more testing.

Well, on Wednesday, the sheriff's office said that examinations by the state's medical examiner's office revealed it belonged to a human.

It was then sent to the Office of the State Archaeologist at the University of Iowa for further examination, which later determined that it likely belonged to a prehistoric Native American man who was middle to older, the press release said.

According to the department, the other three bones were determined to be nonhuman.

This isn't the first time this year that receding water levels have led to discovered objects once buried deep underwater.

Since May, several human remains, and a World War II-era boat has been unearthed in Lake Mead.

In Texas, a lack of rainfall helped wildlife officials find 113 million-year-old dinosaur tracks in a dried-up river last month.

COLLEGE CORNER, Ohio —

Human remains found in Hueston Woods are believed to be those of a man missing for more than two years.

Michael McKenney, 28, was last seen May 23, 2020. Investigators said there are strong indicators he has now been found.

“I'm totally not quitting until he's positively identified,” said McKenney’s mother Yolanda Middleton. “I'm a fighter. I'm not a quitter and I'm not going to quit until I know for certain, but everything points to that it is him.”

Texas Equisearch, Christian Aid Ministries and other volunteers have continued searching and Wednesday they made the discovery in a remote part of Hueston Woods.

“It's almost like you're going through the whole process over again, to be honest, from day one,” Middleton said. “I didn't know if we'd ever, ever come to this day.”

The family said there were some of McKenney’s personal effects found with the remains and some specific physical characteristics were the same.

“There were some things definitely strongly suggesting that it was him,” said Fairfield Township Police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey.

McCroskey said the cause of death could come with the coroner’s report, but so much time has passed, it could also be undetermined.

The case is in such early stages police cannot yet rule out foul play, however, there are no obvious indicators that anyone else was involved.

“I will say that we're not looking for anybody right now. We're not looking for any suspects at this point,” McCroskey said.

The identity will be confirmed by DNA. That could take weeks or even months to get back.