SEATTLE » Sanitation workers found human remains in Seattle today, and authorities were trying to determine whether they were additional body parts belonging to a woman who was killed and dismembered.

The crew discovered the remains in a container near where body parts, including a head, were dumped in a recycling bin nearly a week ago.

John Charlton has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ingrid Lyne, a 40-year-old mother of three, in her suburban Renton home. Authorities say he drove the remains of the woman he recently started dating to Seattle, where a homeowner found them last Saturday.

Gordon Hill, Charlton’s public defender, has said no forensic evidence links Charlton to the crime.

Police have not connected the newly discovered remains with the dismemberment case but believe there is a link, Assistant Police Chief Robert Mermer said.

Several garbage trucks have been pulled off their routes to empty them and look for more remains, Mermer said.

Charlton told investigators that the couple had been dating for about a month and they attended a baseball game Friday night and then returned to her house.

Authorities believe Charlton killed Lyne, then drove her head, an arm with a hand, a lower leg and a foot to Seattle and dumped them.

Charlton is in jail on $2 million bail and faces at least 28 years in prison if convicted.

He also is charged with theft of a motor vehicle for taking Lyne’s vehicle, which was found in downtown Seattle on Monday night, authorities said.