A CRIME SCENE has been set up as police continue to comb an area of riverbed near Bingara where an elderly property owner found human remains.
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Police confirmed further searches are taking place near Killarney Gap Road, after the gruesome discovery was made a month ago.
New England officers first made the trip out to the property about 2:30pm on June 22, after a fragment of human skull was found and brought to Bingara Police Station.
Further searches of the area by police have since revealed part of a jawbone and some clothing.
Officers told the Leader the remains had undergone a forensic pathologist examination, as investigators worked to identify who the bones belonged to.
"The remains have been identified as missing man Darren Royce Willis," a NSW Police spokesperson said.
Officers will continue to carry out searches in the remote riverbed area known as 'six mile' as investigations continue.
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Mr Willis was 45 years old when he vanished from Bingara in the New England more than a decade ago.
His neighbour Bruce Anthony Coss is accused of bludgeoning him to death with a baseball bat in December 2010 and dumping his body.
Coss' murder trial was two weeks into evidence but was sensationally adjourned for further investigations on Monday, after prosecutors revealed the dramatic new development.
Crown prosecutor Liam Shaw told the court the fragments of human skull and jawbone had been discovered at the base of a waterfall on a private property while the trial had been on a five-week break.
Justice Hament Dhanji agreed to adjourn to November due to the significance of the new evidence that had come to light.
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