Authorities in Gia Lai Province received a woman on Sunday who claimed that the two recently found bodies in a local forest were her 37-year-old son and her 11-year-old grandson.
The 57-year-old woman arrived with a man and a woman who claimed to be the younger brother and aunt of one of the bodies.
All three said that the objects found at the site belonged to their two family members who had been residing in Buon Ma Thuot City in the neighbouring province of Dak Lak.
The victims' belongings are found at the site
Gia Lai Police took samples from the woman for DNA tests to confirm the victims' identities.
Initial investigations showed that the two skeletons were of father and son, the father aged between 30-50 and the boy aged between 10-15.
If their identities are confirmed, it would match the story of the possible relatives.
The man and boy used to live in Buon Ma Thuot City in Dak Lak Province but after the family's breakup, the father took the son to Kon Tum Province where they stayed in a rented house. The landlord said that the father and son had left many months ago. However, as their rental contract had not ended, many of their belongings were still at the house.
The man's wife had also left Buon Ma Thuot City three years ago and one of her relatives said that the man had shown signs of depression and had taken his son to live in different places.
Local people found two decomposed bodies on a hammock while looking for bamboo sprouts in a forest in Gia Lai's Dak Rong Commune on August 22, and they informed local authorities.
The bodies were fully decomposed and totally skeletonised, and their clothes had rotted. Some objects were found around them including backpacks, pots and bowls, flashlights, lighters, and other personal belongings.
Authorities are still trying to find the cause of their deaths, but there have been assumptions that they might have died from food poisoning after eating some poisonous vegetables or mushrooms in the area.
The two bodies have been buried at a local cemetery while further investigations are underway.