The parents of 6-year-old Lance Guevarra have given investigators blood samples, allowing DNA analysts to see if skeletal remains unearthed last week in the Kane County desert belong to their son.
Meantime, more bones were found in a search Sunday of the remote area of Big Water, about 65 miles east of Kanab.Kimberly and William Guevarra provided the samples Monday, Kane County Attorney Colin W. Winchester said.
An initial search Friday led officials to small bones determined to be human and the partial remains of a scalp with hair samples, said Kane County Chief Deputy Allen Johnson.
The remains were located just west of the boy's home in Big Water after a 17-year-old cousin confessed to killing Lance and dumping the body.
Investigators found more bones in the area Sunday, "some large and some small," which were being taken to the medical examiner's office in Salt Lake City. The state crime lab is also assisting in identifying the remains with blood from the parents.
Meanwhile, the suspect is being held in a mental-health facility in Las Vegas and has not yet been charged in the crime. The teenager reportedly confessed to the killing after trying to commit suicide.
The cousin was the last person to see the boy alive the night he disappeared. Lance, clutching two Godzilla dolls, left the cousin's trailer to go back to his own trailer 50 feet away to get a Nintendo video-game cartridge.
After spending an hour with the parents on Monday, Winchester said they appeared to be coping with the tragedy the best way they can.
"That's the best way to put it," he said. "There's anger, there's confusion and there's surprise."
Proving the bones were those of the boy would be easier if searchers had found the skull and teeth and could check the teeth against the boy's dental records.
However, officials did not find the skull, so criminologists will compare DNA from the bones to that of the boy's parents.
"They've determined that they're human remains, but they need to find out if they are consistent with the boy's," Winchester said. "We'll just have to wait for the reports from the medical examiner's office to come back."
Winchester said his office will not file charges against the teen until those reports come back. He said that wouldn't happen for about two weeks.
And if the results come back negative?
"We'll still file charges if they can't determine the remains are the boy's because of the confession and other circumstances," Winchester said.
Winchester said he anticipates defense attorneys will raise the issue of the teen's mental stability.
"His (mental) state has yet to be determined, but I expect it will come up," he said.
Lance Guevarra disappeared Aug. 13 after leaving the suspect's trailer home in Big Water.
As many as 40 people helped in the search from the Kane County Sheriff's office and from agencies in Big Water.
Chief Deputy Johnson said while a motive has yet to be established in the case, much of the success in finding the remains should be given to the Utah Division of Investigations.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.