BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Police Department said a landfill search for the body of 15-year-old Ja'Derrius Minnieweather will continue as testing is done on human remains that were found during the search. 

Minnieweather was reported missing June 5, with police arresting 51-year-old Maurice Parms and charging him with first-degree murder in connection with Minnieweather's death nearly two weeks later. 

Following Parms' arrest, Mayor-President Sid Edwards and BRPD announced that evidence led them to believe Minnieweather's body may be located in the North Landfill. This led to a multi-week, around-the-clock search of the landfill by police and federal agents. 

During the press conference Tuesday, BRPD Chief TJ Morse said that human remains had been found during the search. 

"Evidence gives me hope that these remains belong to Ja'Derrius," he said. "Professionally, I am unable to make any speculations, but I remain very, very hopeful."

Morse said that while the remains are being tested to confirm a DNA match, crews searching the landfill will continue to comb through the trash.