Police say work has resumed in a wooded area off Thorburn Road in St. John's where what they believe to be human remains were found earlier this month.

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers stopped their dig on July 16 and called in the province's chief medical examiner after discovering bones.

Acting Insp. June Layden said on Tuesday that a team headed by a forensic anthropologist has begun the painstaking process of excavating the remains.

"This is an anthropology recovery at this point to make sure we gather all of the evidence and that we do it in such a way that nothing is compromised, nothing is lost," Layden said.

"So it's something that's very meticulous and done very slowly."

Police will not say if the remains may be those of a St. Philip's couple who disappeared 13 years ago — Dale Worthman and Kimberly Lockyear — but they do say the investigation into that disappearance led them to the discovery.

Worthman and Lockyear vanished from their home in St. Philip's in August 1993 and police believe foul play was involved.