A group of tradesmen have discovered human remains while on a job digging for old pipes at a holiday home south of Melbourne.

It’s understood plumbing work was being done on the property at Hazelwood Court in Silverleaves on Phillip Island at about 8.35am on 15 January.

Police said that, during the job, the workmen unearthed human bones.

Riley Weinzierl said he saw his colleague digging for an old sewer pipe when he found a suspected human skull.

‘He just pulled a bit of sand out and emptied his bucket, and that’s when he saw the human head,’ Mr Weinzierl told 7News.

‘The rest of them stopped excavating at that point and had a look around in the sand, and there were a few more bones and things.’

The team didn’t find any remnants of clothing on the skeleton, which is believed to be an adult.

‘The more they dug, they probably would have found more. But we stopped,’ Mr Weinzierl said.

A group of workmen discovered human remains at a Phillip Island holiday home on Thursday
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A group of workmen discovered human remains at a Phillip Island holiday home on Thursday

Tradie Riley Weinzierl (pictured) was one of the workmen digging for a sewer pipe when the bones were discovered
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Tradie Riley Weinzierl (pictured) was one of the workmen digging for a sewer pipe when the bones were discovered

The group found a suspected human skull (pictured) which is undergoing forensic testing
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The group found a suspected human skull (pictured) which is undergoing forensic testing

Victoria Police are investigating the matter, and the missing persons squad has also been notified.

‘A crime scene has been established and detectives from the Homicide Squad have been deployed to the scene,’ police said.

‘The bones will undergo forensic testing and, at this stage, the circumstances surrounding the death of the person are yet to be determined.

‘This includes whether the matter is suspicious.’

The house is believed to have been built in the 1980s, and the original owners lived there for about 20 years before it was used as a holiday rental property.

Current homeowner Greg and his wife bought the home, located on one of Victoria’s biggest tourist hotspots, three years ago.

Both were horrified to learn about the discovery, Nine News reported.

‘It was pretty obvious what they’d found because we went into the backyard and saw what was going on,’ Greg said.

‘You go through quite a range of emotions, from disbelief through to shock.

‘I’m hopeful that it’s somebody’s very sad story, which will now come to closure.’

Anyone with information about the matter has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.