A partial human skull found earlier this year by a bicyclist in Veguita was only reported to authorities over the weekend, and Socorro County sheriff's deputies are asking for help in solving what appears to be a 10-year-old mystery, El Defensor Chieftain reported.

Deputy Adrian Tapia told El Defensor Chieftain that Ruben Moreno of Veguita was bicycling near the Rio Grande in January when he noticed the skull sticking up out of the sand, but Moreno put the skull on a stump and forgot about it until just recently.

The skull was found on the east side of a ditchbank, 4.7 miles north of U.S. 60, deputies told the paper.

Medical investigator Keith Bailey said the skull appears to be from about 10 years ago and likely belonged to someone who was a teenager at the time of death, El Defensor Chieftain said.

The skull has been taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque in hopes that DNA can be retrieved to help in identification, the paper reported.

Chief Deputy Preciliano "Shorty" Vaiza told the paper that it's possible the skull was carried downstream on the Rio Grande and that the place where it was found is not being treated as a crime scene at this time.

Vaiza asked that anyone with information about a missing person from around 10 years ago or any information about the skull call the sheriff's department at (575) 835-0941. 

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