RCMP secured a stretch of the Southern Shore Highway on Friday, as investigators searched for evidence related to human remains found nearby. (CBC)

RCMP said Friday that investigators are searching pre-computer databases to find clues about human remains found on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

Sgt. Boyd Merrill said it is too early to tell whether foul play was involved with remains found near Cappahayden. (CBC)

The remains were discovered outside Cappahayden, more than 100 kilometres south of St. John's, on Thursday by campers, who then contacted the police.

Sgt. Boyd Merrill said it would be premature to make a judgment about the condition of the remains, which the force had described in an earlier statement on Friday as skeletal.

"When they first made the report, they said that they found some bones and that was the understanding I had, that it would be parts of a skeleton," Merrill told CBC News.

RCMP investigators were joined by forensics experts with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. The office of the chief medical officer is also involved in the case, and a dog unit was brought to the scene.

Merrill said he did not know whether the gender of the remains has been determined, or whether clothing was found at the scene.

The discovery has prompted police to start scouring records dating back many years.

"The RCMP databases were checked to determine if there were missing persons from that area and that's being examined right now," Merrill told CBC News.

"The files don't indicate something immediately but we have to go back to our old paper database files that we had prior to computers, to see if there's anything in there as well."

Merrill said that at this stage, it is too early to determine whether foul play was involved.

"There's all different possible scenarios," he said.

"This could be somebody that was left there years and years and years ago through criminal or non criminal means. We have no way of knowing."