SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- A shocking discovery was made Friday behind a vacant house when skeletal remains were found Thursday night.

The remains were found in the backyard of a house in the 500 block of North Yellow Springs Street in Springfield.

Springfield police said they are treating the case as a homicide investigation.

A woman who lives nearby, Kelly Mann, said, "Last house has been known to be a drug house in the past after it got boarded so you see all of that, but you never think to find a dead body."

News Center 7 was told that the house is set to be torn down to make way for the new Springfield hospital. On Thursday evening, crews salvaging cabinets from the vacant homes found the remains in the yard.

"It kind of caught us off guard. We were like, is that a human or is that dog," said James Smith, who found the remains.

Springfield police set up a tent and brought out shovels and a sifter as they carefully removed the remains.

Moody said, "Because we have some decay, we're behind in the investigation. Someone has a head start. We're going to use all the resources we have to remedy that head start."