Gunnison County Sheriff Rick Murdie on Wednesday said he’s confident human remains recovered from a hillside near Somerset are not those of missing Grand Junction woman Paige Birgfeld.

“These bones had been on the ground a lot longer than two years,” said Murdie, who said his agency had been in contact about the find with an investigator from the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department, among other agencies.

“I don’t believe we’re dealing with Paige here.”

Birgfeld, 34, was last heard from driving to her Grand Junction home the night of June 28, 2007.

Murdie did not offer an estimate for how long he believes the remains were exposed outdoors. He said a preliminary analysis conducted Tuesday by anthropology faculty at Western State College, and Gunnison County Coroner Frank Vader, suggested the bones belonged to a female approximately in her 20s.

Those descriptors have been entered into a missing persons database maintained by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Murdie said.

They’re waiting for a match.

“Then we go to the agency that answered that information,” Murdie said.

The bones will be shipped to forensic pathologists in Montrose, who will be asked to determine cause and manner of death, he said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done yet,” Murdie said.

Gunnison authorities have said the remains — a skull missing its lower jaw bone and seven other upper-body bones — were found on steep, rough terrain that is private property just north of Somerset. A worker who was clearing trees in the area stumbled upon the bones on Saturday.

An item of clothing, which authorities have refused to describe in detail, was also found.

Murdie said a search team, which will include anthropology faculty and students from Western State, will be returning to the site in the coming days to comb over more of the area around the find.

The sheriff has said the partial skull and bones were found scattered in a roughly 100-foot radius.

Email PAUL SHOCKLEY