The state is investigating human remains found last month in sand that a contractor allegedly removed without permission from Dillingham Airfield and distributed to Waialua residents.

If the remains are from an ancient burial, they will be reburied where they came from, a state official said yesterday.

The site is Army land leased by the state Department of Transportation at Dillingham Airfield.

"There were human remains found in the sand," DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said. He said the situation came to light in the past two weeks when a human jawbone was found in sand on a Waialua property. The sand was traced back to a contractor that did work for the state at the airfield. Ishikawa identified the contractor as Stay and Sons Inc.

"We've been in touch with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and they're trying to determine the origin of the remains," Ishikawa said. "Now, if the remains are found to be ancient Hawaiian, we're going to work closely with them in having the bones brought back for proper reburial on our property (at the airfield)."

Ishikawa said the contractor was hired by the DOT Airports Division to remove tall brush along the airfield's fence line in 2003 and 2004. The work was done to create a firebreak and to provide more consistent air current for skydivers, he said.

"The brush was disposed legally on state property," Ishikawa said. "But at the same time the sand ... was removed from about a 65-foot-square area and the contractor took the sand away."

Witnesses reported seeing the contractor haul away sand.

"According to the lease with the Army, that sand shouldn't have been removed," Ishikawa said. "I don't think there was any criminal activity or any intention to do criminal activity involved. The point is the sand shouldn't have been removed from the property."

Stay and Sons Inc., a Hale'iwa company, has no phone listing and its registration to do business in Hawai'i expired in December 2003. Aden Stay, the person named as the company's registrant, has no phone listing and could not be reached yesterday.

Ishikawa said the contractor may have held on to the sand for much of the past year.

"And he's been distributing it to a couple of Waialua residents," he said. "And that's where the human remains were found."

The state Division of Historic Preservation has examined the bone fragments and determined they are human, Clifford Inn, a DLNR education outreach coordinator, said. The agency has yet to determine the age of the bones.

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.