Officials said on Wednesday the three partial human skulls uncovered in a Winter Garden subdivision Monday could have been a part of a ritual.

District 9 Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jan C. Garavaglia said they are working with an anthropologist to figure out where the skulls came from. Although the age, sex and ethnicity of the skulls have not been determined, officials believe the skulls may have been associated with a ritual, according to a release.

According to Winter Garden police, a plumber installing pump pipes for a pool discovered a portion of a human cranium at a home in the Carriage Pointe neighborhood, located near County Road 545 and Avalon Road.

Crime scene units and archaeological technicians were called to the scene and found two additional human craniums that appeared to have been buried 10 to 15 feet underground, police said. The jaws and the rest of the bodies were gone, said police.

For years, the area was a rural orange grove and woods. It's possible the other remains were dug away when construction crews leveled the ground to build the new neighborhood.

"I just think it's very interesting. It makes you wonder," said neighbor, Steve Zimmerman. "It was a remote area. There are a lot of unsolved crimes. I think that people would seek remote areas to hide things."

Police have opened a criminal investigation and said their only clues are a bowl and purse found near the craniums with a newspaper or magazine clipping inside dated from 1978.

"Our goal is to determine did a crime happen or not. Normally, it leans that way. A human skull without a body, and it's not a cemetery," said Winter Garden police Lt. Keith Ralston.

Police said there's no telling where the rest of the skeletal remains may be, but authorities will not return to the neighborhood to search for any additional skeletal remains.