MEMPHIS, TN – Police say a family, concerned about a missing relative, started digging in a vacant lot when they found a sock with foot bones in it.

According to investigators, the family filed a missing persons report for Wayne Hart on Wednesday, July 9, 2008.  Family members told police that they had not heard from Hart since December of 2006.

Wayne’s sister Vontina Hart and his cousin Diana Jones told Eyewitness News Everywhere they called police because a family friend told them that Wayne had been murdered and where they could find Wayne’s body.  Hart and Jones say the friend told them that he had been dating Wayne’s ex-girlfriend.  The man claimed that he had been mowing in the backyard when Wayne’s ex-girlfriend told him not to mow a particular part of the lawn, because that was where she buried Wayne, says Jones and Hart.

Hart and Jones say the man told them the story six months ago.  The two women say they confronted the ex-girlfriend, but she told them that Wayne left her and had gone to New York.  The family members say that it was not that unusual for Wayne to go places without telling anyone, so they did not call police at that time.  The women say they saw the family friend again on Wednesday, and he again told them his story, which led them to call police.

After police took their statements, Hart and Jones say they felt they needed to know if what they were told was true.  So they say they went to the ex-girlfriend’s house and started digging.  They say when they found the foot, they called police right away.

Police say when a forensics team got to the scene, they found a skull and most of a skeleton buried in a shallow grave.  Investigators say the identity of the human remains is still unknown.

According to court records, the ex-girlfriend is being held for questioning, but no charges have been filed at this time.