A dog walker has described the “surreal” discovery sniffed out by his beagles in the case of murder victim Julian Story’s missing head.

Tyson McCallum and his beagles Benji, 3, and Alfie, 5 were on the Parnkalla Walking Trail in Port Lincoln, South Australia, on Thursday.

“We were on a route we do a couple times a week,” McCallum told Nine News.

“It’s a secluded area, so I let the boys off the lead.”

The scent-loving canines, which are known for their exceptional sense of smell, bolted off into the dense scrubland.

They disappeared from sight, but after a while only Alfie returned.

Aflie and Benji helped find the missing skull of Julian Story.

Fearing something had happened, McCallum told went looking for Benji and found him by a bush with an object.

“I went into see what had caught his attention,” McCallum told Nine News.

“Pretty quickly, I made the connection that this is what the police were looking for.”

McCallum told 7News it was a “surreal” moment.

“I was kind of like ‘No way, it’s not what I think it is, surely not’. But it was too coincidental.”

Authorities had been searching for the head of  Story, 39, since his dismembered body was discovered in the South Australian town of Port Lincoln on June 19.

The skull was found in dense scrubland off a walking trail in Port Lincoln. Photo: Nine News

Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke preliminary investigations and information from the forensic science centre indicated that the remains were most likely human.

“I believe they are the remains of Julian Story,” the Major Crime officer-in-charge said.

Former Beauty and the Geek reality TV contestant Tamika Sueann Rose Chesser, 34, has been charged with Story’s murder.

She was arrested on June 19 after Story’s body was found at the couple’s home at Port Lincoln, on the Eyre Peninsula.

Former Beauty and the Geek contestant Tamika Chesser has been charged.

On June 27, Fielke issued a plea for public help “because tragically, we have not recovered the head of Julian Story”.

He said Story’s family had been told of the discovery and “hopefully we can give them some comfort that we have found all the remains of Julian”.

“They are still planning for a funeral, which I believe will be towards the end of next week,” he said.

McCallum said he hoped the skull’s discovery would help bring closure to the family.

“They’ve obviously been through a lot, can’t even imagine it, to have it I guess finalised, they can get some closure which will hopefully bring them some peace,” said McCallum.

Fielke thanked the community for their help and said they had been through “quite a process” with the focus on their town.

A police guard had been placed on the site with more searches planned.

“If those are Julian’s remains, Tamika is likely to have been in that location, so we don’t know what other evidence may or may not be there,” Fielke said.

Chesser appeared in Port Lincoln Magistrates Court on Thursday via video link from James Nash House, a psychiatric facility in Adelaide.

She is also accused of assaulting a police officer the day after her arrest and faces unrelated charges of assault and disorderly behaviour.

The matters were adjourned and Chesser will reappear in court on December 18.

Detectives would be “guided by how her treatment is playing out”, Supt Fielke said.

“We will speak to her at an appropriate time,” he said.

In June, police released still images and video of a woman they allege was Chesser walking on Port Lincoln streets that were recorded after the killing, which investigators allege occurred about midnight on June 17.

The images show a woman wearing a black headscarf and black full-body coverings, carrying a bag.

Fielke said police would not discount Story’s head was inside the bag.

-with AAP