A specialist sniffer dog searching a cellar at a Jersey children's home gave police a positive "indication", a spokesman said.
The dog, which is trained to search for blood and human remains, was sent into a second underground room at Haut de la Garenne, which is at the centre of an abuse inquiry.
The second room was accessed, but a spokeswoman for Jersey police warned against drawing premature conclusions.
She said: "The dog has given an indication but it's very close to the scene of the find in the first cellar."
The spokeswoman added: "The team accessed the second cellar. A member of the forensic team has undertaken a preliminary investigation of the cellar and one of the specialist dogs has been sent down.
"It is hoped that full access to the second cellar will be gained when the forensic work can begin in earnest."
The reaction from Eddie, the specialist sniffer dog, raises the prospect of further grisly finds at the home.
Elsewhere on the site, police have found a child's skull and other bone fragments that may be human.
Residents of the home have told police horrific tales of abuse carried out underground in "punishment rooms".
Adults who, as children, lived in the home during the 1960s, 70s and 80s have claimed they were chained up, physically abused and raped in cellars at the home.
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