Human skeleton found near UC Berkeley campus identified; death ruled a homicide

A human skeleton found near the University of California, Berkeley campus earlier this year was identified as the remains of a man who was killed several years ago, police said. The man was identified from DNA evidence as Steven Lawrence McCreary of Texas, who wasn't affiliated with the university, UC Berkeley police said in a statement Wednesday.

Police said the evidence indicated that McCreary died "many years ago." He was alive as recently as 2009 and would have been around 37 years old then. His death was determined to be a homicide and an investigation was ongoing.

The homicide determination was based on an analysis of the condition of the bones by the Alameda County coroner's office, police said. A cause of death wasn't provided.