MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Police are searching for the mother of a small fetus found by utility workers at a sewage pump station Monday in Morgantown, W.Va.

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The fetus will be sent to the state medical examiner's office in Charleston for an autopsy to determine race, sex and age.

Morgantown police said a worker whose job it is to check screens at the pump station found the fetus during his daily routine Monday morning.

The fetus was so small that police don't yet know if a crime was committed or if the mother had a miscarriage.

Morgantown Utility Board Jim Green said workers found the fetus while performing routine maintenance on a sewage pump station.

It's likely the fetus was flushed down a toilet, Green said.

Authorities were trying to locate the mother of the unborn child to learn what happened.

Green has worked for the utility board for more than 30 years, and said he's never seen a similar situation.

Anything larger than three-quarters of an inch gets trapped by the screens, officials said.

The plant processes waste from a large region, making it tough for investigators to pinpoint a specific area from where the fetus might have come.

Police are calling local hospitals and the West Virginia University Health Center to see if anyone checked in with related health issues.