WAKE COUNTY — Police in the eastern part ofWake Countyhave a task ahead of them. It all started with the discovery of human remains just outside of Wendell.

About 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, a man was looking for cans in a pile of trash when he spotted the body in a ravine off Old Tarboro Road.

Once investigators arrived at the scene, they confirmed that a body was located in the woods.

"It appears to be of a small build," says Maj. Danny Bellamy with theWake County Sheriff's Department. "Right now we can't say if it's male or female and we don't even know the race."

The body appears to be badly decomposed. They say that it has probably been there for a matter of weeks.

"The body's been here for some time and is in a state of decomposition," Bellamy said. "It's in pretty bad shape."

So far, investigators cannot tell the gender, race or cause of the person's death.

The body was taken to the medical examiners office in Chapel Hill at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night.

An autopsy will be performed Thursday morning, but sheriff's officials are not wasting any time. They have already started comparing notes with area law enforcement agencies to determine if this person is someone they have been looking for.