Human Skeleton
A human jaw is shown by Concepcion Gimenez, a physical anthropologist in Mexico City, on March 9, 2018. RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

While renovating their new home, homeowners found a ghastly discovery in the attic -- the skeletal remains of an elderly man.

The gruesome discovery occurred in eastern France. According to Yahoo, the skeleton remains are thought to be the previous owner, Aloïs Iffly, who mysteriously vanished 15 years ago.

The skeleton was found while the pair was investigating a water leak in a partially hidden, hard-to-reach area under the roof, Glady said to AFP.

Prosecutor Olivier Glady confirmed that the "corpse which was reduced to a skeleton" is likely Aloïs Iffly, who disappeared without a trace 2009 at the age 81.

Despite extensive searches, and a possible theory pointing to suicide, his disappearance remained unsolved until now. Local police have resumed the investigation to understand his cause of death.

The house was sold to the new homeowners in 2023 after the death of Iffly's widow in 2020.

Globally, finding human remains in a home is a common occurrence. In Michigan a photo of a mysterious skeletal remains found behind a kitchen door during a home renovation, went viral. In South Carolina, a baby's skeletal remains was found inside a house wall under similar circumstances.

Iffly's skeletal remains were sent to Strasbourg for forensic analysis.