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Sheriff: Skull belongs to 9-year-old girl
STONEVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- Authorities said Monday that tests on teeth from a partial skull found last week in Rockingham County show it belonged to a 9-year-old white girl, but the tests did not determine whether the teeth were those of missing Virginia girl Jennifer Short. Jennifer, 9, has not been seen since August 15, when her parents were found shot dead in their home in Bassett, Virginia, 30 miles away from where the skull was found. The medical examiner told CNN Monday that the girl whose body was found in Rockingham County died of a bullet wound to the head. A forensic dentist in the office of the chief medical examiner in Chapel Hill performed the tests on the teeth, said Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. DNA tests on a leg bone may determine "within the next day or so" whether the body parts belong to Short, Page said. The bone was being taken to a lab in Roanoke, Virginia, for testing, he said. Investigators from Henry County, Virginia, plan to search a small pond in Rockingham County on Tuesday that joins the creek where most of the remains were found, Page said. The pond was partially drained last week in an effort to find more human remains, but heavy rains hampered the search. "We have scoured the area," Page told reporters. Page said he was not aware of any missing 9-year-olds in Rockingham County. Forensics experts reported last week that the time of death for the person whose bones were discovered was within a year. Eddie Albert found the skull when he spotted his dogs with what he initially thought was a wig. Investigating authorities found a part of a rib cage as well as the skull, which had "almost a full head of hair," according to Maj. Jim Thomas of the Rockingham County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office. Authorities in North Carolina and Virginia initially downplayed theories that the Jennifer's remains had been found. Henry County Sheriff H.F. Cassell said Thursday that initial analysis of hair samples showed the body was probably not Short's, that teeth in the skull's jaw appeared to be larger than would be found in a 9-year-old girl, and that the remains' hair color was red. Jennifer was described as brown-haired at the time of her disappearance. But forensic experts in North Carolina now say the hair found on the skull is medium brown. -- CNN Correspondent Gary Tuchman contributed to this story.
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