Bone fragments unearthed at a former children's home in Jersey being investigated over alleged child abuse show signs of murder, police said.
Deputy chief officer Lenny Harper said the charring of bone parts found in a cellar "indicate a homicide" with the remains possibly cremated in a nearby fireplace.
Tests on milk teeth also discovered at the scene reveal two different sources, he said, raising the prospect that more than one child could have been killed in the underground chamber or nearby.
The news comes less than a week after it emerged the fragment of "skull" that initially sparked the search at Haut de la Garenne was now believed to be a piece of wood or coconut shell.
Mr Harper said a total of 30 bone fragments and seven teeth had now been found in one of the cellars at Haut de la Garenne.
Of those, 20 bone parts and five teeth have been analysed in laboratories. Mr Harper said experts concluded the teeth have come out of more than one mouth."
Mr Harper added that the list of suspects in the inquiry had now grown from around 40 to 70.
Gordon Claude Wateridge (76), originally from Croydon, south London, is charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979 when he was warder at the home.
A second man has also been arrested as part of the wider abuse inquiry.
Claude Donnelly (68), of St Brelade, is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl between 1971 and 1974 on the island. Neither man has entered a plea.