Caylee Anthony Press Conference

New bones were discovered Thursday on a wooded lot where Orange County investigators found a skull and other skeletal remains a week ago, the sheriff's office said.

Sheriff's Capt. Angelo Nieves said the new bones were found on the perimeter of the search area off Suburban Drive where investigators and crime-scene technicians have been working since last week.

Investigators have suggested the remains could be those of missing toddler Caylee Marie Anthony, who disappeared in June.

The sheriff's spokesman also made a surprise announcement that the utility worker who reported finding the remains last week also made calls to authorities on three days in August.

"We are currently following up on information regarding this particular location which we received three tips back in August," Nieves said. "We are attempting to be as thorough, as clear and as concise as possible with the information that we received."

In August, the meter reader called the Crimeline tip line and the Orange County Sheriff's Office to report that a gray bag was on the "right side of the road" near Hopespring and Suburban drives.

The tipster did not speak to a deputy at the scene, according to sheriff's spokesman Angelo Nieves. The deputy, who was not named, responded to the area and cleared it.

The meter reader is cooperating with investigators and is not considered a suspect, Nieves said

Because of the new discovery, investigators have expanded the search area and intend to stay at the site several more days, Nieves said.

"There was a window of opportunity possibly ..we had a deputy respond to the location on Aug. 13," Nieves said. "We are currently trying to determine the situation of that response to determine what the deputy did on scene at that time."

Nieves said his agency was investigating how those reports were handled.

Anthony's parents, George and Cindy, are attending a fundraiser for missing children and did not see the news conference, said their attorney, Brad Conway. He plans to talk to the Anthonys by 7 p.m.

Anthony, 22, was indicted in October on a first-degree murder charge in Caylee's death. She remains jailed.

Earlier Thursday, sources at the sheriff's office confirmed that the FBI is examining hair samples found in the bag containing the child's remains. The remains were shipped to the FBI's lab, the source said.

Nieves would not confirm other items under investigation.

"We know that the court team spoke about a 3-inch piece of bone that would be used during the identification process; we have not provided any identification of items recovered at the scene except for the skull and bag," Nieves wrote in an e-mail to the Sentinel. "The sheriff responded to a question on the first day regarding any clothing being present and he replied that there was none at this time, in other words [it is] too early to tell."

On Wednesday, the lead detectives and prosecutors handling the case visited the scene, as did an anthropologist.

An entomologist from Illinois had been there earlier.

Later Wednesday, Carlos Padilla, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said investigators will continue to examine the property for as long as necessary.

"They're still finding some items of interest, evidence." Padilla said. "We're just going to stay as long as we need to stay."

The Anthonys will be blaming the utility worker next instead of Zani.

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