Homicide detectives are appealing for the public's help to identify a woman whose burnt bone fragments were found in rock pools at a beach in Melbourne's south-east last year.
The grisly investigation began when Parks Victoria staff found a lower jaw bone in rock pools at Ricketts Point in Beaumaris on January 11, 2018.
They returned with police several days later and found a total of 426 fragments of bone in the area, comprising roughly 30 per cent of a woman's skeleton.
Forensic tests have revealed the woman was older than 20 when she died and likely between 155 and 160 centimetres tall.
Examination of the woman's lower jaw bone revealed the back teeth on each side were missing before the woman's death.
Missing Person Squad Detective Sergeant Maurie Ryan said the woman's death was "more likely than not" to have been suspicious, but her identity and cause of death remained a mystery.
"Over the past 18 months we've done an enormous amount of work trying to determine exactly who this woman is," he said.
"Was she left here by loved ones? Was she murdered? We just don't know."
Sergeant Ryan said police had called Victorian crematoriums to check if the burnt remains had been scattered by loved ones, but were told entire skeletal remains were never released to families.
Bones likely left during summer peak
Investigators believe the woman's entire remains were left in the rock pools near a metal navigation marker sometime between late December 2017 and early January 2018.
Sergeant Ryan said police had not been able to match the woman's profile to anyone who went missing from Victoria or other states over that period of time.
He urged anyone who knew of someone who had gone missing during that timeframe, or witnessed anyone at the beach "discarding items" or acting suspiciously in that period, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
