Anthropologists were called in to help examine remains found in a yard at a home in Santa Ana on Friday.
They were called in after police received an anonymous tip about a body had been buried at the home 30 years ago.
Orange County Deputy Coroner Tiffany Williams said officials will first try to identify the person.
"We do that by kind of building a biological profile of the skeleton, male, female, age, stature, and injury, anything specific to that skeleton that we might be able to match with a missing persons report," she said.
Williams added that every inch of sand could hold a clue, even after 30 years.
According to the anthropologists, the best clue came from a pelvic bone, which could determine whether the remains belonged to a male or a female.
Eduardo Santa Maria, the homeowner, said his gardeners found what looked like leg bones and he found a knife but were all thrown away 10 years ago.
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Ernesto Duenas, who grew up next to the house when he was 8 years old, made his own conclusions.
"Whoever called it in must have known something," he said.
Duenas remembered what it was like growing up next to the house.
"The smell, I will never forget," he said. "It was an odor of death. Yeah I remember that I used to tell my mom it smells and she didn't really pay attention."
Police are still trying to reach the family who lived there years ago.
