Human remains found during encampment cleanup in Seattle's Jose Rizal Park

SEATTLE - Crews discovered human remains during a state-led encampment cleanup near Seattle’s north Beacon Hill on Friday morning. The location is inside Jose Rizal Park near the I-5/I-90 Junction.

"This is a person, so let's remember that," said Christ Loftis, Director of Communication for Washington State Patrol. "We need to treat them with respect."

Very little is known about the circumstances surrounding the remains. The individuals' gender and cause of death is not yet known, at least not until the medical examiner completes their report.

"Until it matures a bit, we’re not going to be able to share much more than just that we found these human remains," said Loftis.

Loftis told FOX 13 the remains were discovered during an encampment resolution, which is basically a cleanup.

<div>Beacon Hill encampment site</div> — Beacon Hill encampment site

"We had crews with WSDOT," said Loftis. "They smelled something, a strong odor, and we all know that odor, the odor of loss, the odor of death."

Sadly, this isn’t the first time human remains have been found during outreach and cleanups.

"It’s twisted. It’s sick," said Timothy Emerson with We Heart Seattle.

While he wasn’t involved in Friday’s discovery or cleanup, he knows Joze Rizal Park and the issues surrounding it.

"We need better solutions to all this camping that goes unchecked," he said.

We Heart Seattle too has found plenty of items during their cleanups.

"We’ve found skeletal remains, tools and more," he said.

As for Friday’s remains, Timothy like investigators want to give the person, whoever they are, the dignity they deserve.

"I hope that we can find the family and give them some closure and find out what happened here," said Emerson.

"We’re going to do the best we can to find out what happened to this person," said Loftis. "We’re going to find out who this person was, what their story was, how their story ended and if someone was involved in criminal activity and caused their death, we’re going do the best we can to catch that person and bring them to justice."