Driver finds bag of human remains while stopping for a toilet break

Human remains dumped in a bag have been found south of Sydney.

The grisly discovery in the Royal National Park, made on the anniversary of Matthew Leveson’s disappearance, has now sparked a murder investigation.

The chilling find was made by a passing driver who happened to stop on the side of the road for a toilet break at 4pm Saturday, turning the quiet stretch of road into a crime scene.

At first it was a discarded rego plate that caught the driver’s eye so he climbed down a steep embankment a few metres to check it out. That’s when he spotted the large checked shopping bag.

Inside he found a collection of bones, sparking a homicide investigation.

The site is just 2.5 kilometres from where Matthew Leveson was buried. His parents Mark and Faye were at the site on Sunday, marking the anniversary of their son’s disappearance 11 years ago.

“We hope that some other family now will be able to find their loved one, be reunited with their loved one,” Matthew Leveson’s father Mark said.

“As we were leaving police let us know that remains had been found.”

The Levesons are hoping the discovery of the remains will bring answers to another traumatised family.

“We’d hear remains are found or a body is found and you’d just wonder or hope this could be our turn,” Mr Leveson said.

After searching the rough terrain here for several hours on Monday, the focus of the investigation will now turn to Wednesday, the post-mortem that is planned to be carried out as detectives work out just who was killed and how they died.