EDWARDS, Ill. (AP) – Skeletal remains found in a creek bottom belong to a female over the age of 18, and officials are trying to match them to one of several missing women from the Peoria area.

How long the bones were in Kickapoo Creek before they were found by a fisherman Aug. 17 remains unknown, as does the cause of death. The skull and some bones have been found, but searches for the rest of the skeleton have failed.

A forensic anthropologist who examined the remains gave investigators a profile of the dead woman that could provide a match for up to eight women missing from the area. Peoria County Chief Deputy Mike McCoy said detectives hope to use dental records to match the remains with one of the women.

Several missing Peoria-area women have been linked to convicted killers.

Two women, Valerie Sloan, 20, of Peoria, and Stacy Morrison, 25, of Pekin, have been missing since 1993. Police say they believe the women were victims of serial killer Joseph Miller.

Investigators believe four women who disappeared in the mid-1990s were victims of Arlie Ray Davis, who is on death row. They were Stephanie Gibson and Loretta Tinkham, both 31, Sheryl Murwin, 35, and Cheryl Murray, 44.

The bones were found in the creek near Edwards and Illinois Route 8. The bodies of two murder victims have been found dumped nearby in the past year.