Native American remains uncovered in Belmont, Indigenous tribe leaders say

BELMONT, Calif. (KGO) -- Representatives of an indigenous tribe say Native American remains are being uncovered at Twin Pines Park in Belmont.

SKY7 captured the work site on Thursday.

A restoration project along the creek led to the discovery a couple of weeks ago that was confirmed by the county coroner.

Representatives of the Tamien Nation, an Indigenous tribe to the Santa Clara Valley, say the state's Native American Heritage Commission told them they would be the closest descendants. Meaning they would oversee the process to disinter the remains and recover artifacts like arrowheads discovered nearby.

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In an email shared with ABC7 News, Belmont police told the groups the FBI suspected the remains could actually be tied to a cold case.

Ylva Hagner from Palo Alto went missing from the area in 1996.

Police said the site was a crime scene.

Tribal representatives say they were told they could observe the search Thursday, but it didn't go as planned.

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ABC7 News spoke with Quirina Geary, chairwoman of the Tamien Nation.

"Our concern is that they are obviously digging up one of our ancestors and they're not even allowing us to even observe as they're doing so," Geary said.

Geary says law enforcement moved a trailer to block their view and pushed them far back enough so they couldn't see the excavation work.

ABC7 News also spoke with Lillian Camarena, director of Culture Resources.

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"Ultimately the FBI supervisor - he kicks us off the project and he said if we didn't move we would be trespassed, and so they kicked us out all the way to the gate and locked it," Camarena said.

Later Thursday afternoon, we went back to Twin Pines Park where police and work crews were gone. Lillian Camarena said authorities came out holding this box, of remains they confirmed were indeed, Native American.

"They were more concerned about their own cold case then they were of our concern of it being an ancestor. And with the given resources around you know, the area, it didn't ring a bell to them and I think that it's a lack of education. They need a lot of training and cultural sensitivity," Camarena said.

We reached out to Belmont police and multiple Belmont leaders but did not hear back.

The FBI released this statement to ABC7 News:

"The FBI can confirm the presence of its Evidence Response Team earlier today in the city of Belmont in connection with a joint investigation being conducted with the Belmont Police Department. This activity, which has since concluded, was part of an ongoing investigation. There was no threat to public safety. As this remains an active investigation, we are unable to provide additional details at this time. We appreciate the public's understanding and cooperation."

Camerena said there are still remains at the park. She will be back on Friday with the archeologist and osteologist the city is contracting with to find out how they can safely disinter the rest.