Northland and Auckland police officers trained in victim disaster identification worked to recover human remains from sand dunes at Mitimiti beach yesterday.
The remains were found on Tuesday and will now be taken to a forensic pathologist in Auckland in an attempt to identify the person.
Meanwhile, a skull which washed up near Houhora Heads last Friday will also be sent to a forensic pathologist in Auckland.
The age or origin of the skull could not be determined through photographs.