Police were conducting a large scale search for missing Bolwarra Heights man Pip Manley when the skeletal remains were discovered about 10.15am.

Detectives have been working at the scene at Belmore Road all day.

The remains have not yet been formally identified, but earlier today Central Hunter local area commander Superintendent Garry O’Dell said they may very well be those of Mr Manley.

“Our officers have spoken to the family and obviously they’re distraught with the information and we’ll be doing all that we can to assist them as we come along in this investigation,” he said.

“It is a remote location and it is only recent that we’ve gotten information that has drawn us to this area. 

"It’s not a place people would wander past regularly.”

10.30am: Searchers looking for missing a Bolwarra man have found skeletal remains by a Lorn roadside.

Police at the scene cannot identify the remains. However they have said that Mr Manley's family is being informed.

Police have made a discovery off Belmore Road at Lorn, not far from Glenarvon Rd, about 10.15am. 

Specialist forensic officers and detectives will continue to examine what police have called "a crime scene" throughout the afternoon.

The remains are yet to be formally identified and police are unable to confirm whether or not they are that of the missing 21-year-old man.

Detectives are treating the incident as suspicious and pursuing numerous lines of inquiry.

A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.

EARLIER: Police will embark on a land, air and water search of Pip Manley in the Telarah, Lorn and Bolwarra areas today with grave concern for the 21-year-old’s whereabouts.

Police divers will scour Bolwarra lagoon while PolAir directs a land search that will include trailbike riders on the banks of the Hunter River.

“We’re trying to leave no stone unturned,” Detective Inspector Peter Mahon said. “People don’t just vanish.”

Pip Manley’s mother dropped him at Telarah train station on November 21 to meet with a friend. 

That was the last anyone reported seeing him until police received information last week that put the university student on Belmore Road, Lorn heading towards Bolwarra at 1am on November 22.

With this information Central Hunter Local Area Command will focus its search on the Telarah and Bolwarra areas, including the search of land, waterways and dams, around Lorn and Bolwarra.

The operation, co-ordinated from a command post at Marcellin Park, will include local and Northern Region Operation Support Group officers, PolAir, Water Police and Police divers.

Strike Force Wondoba investigators believe that members of the Maitland community might have information that could assist the search.

Volunteers will doorknock the area in an effort to uncover further details.

“If he was walking along [Belmore] road surely someone would have some further information,” Inspector Mahon said. “You cannot just fall off the face off the Earth - someone has to have some information.”

Investigations have established that his mobile phone, Facebook and bank accounts have not been accessed since the time he went missing.

Jonathon Manley said at a press conference earlier this month that his son was studying to become an English teacher at the University of Newcastle and lived with his mother and younger brother in Bolwarra Heights.

He said his son was interested in music and was an avid social media user, but his Facebook page had not been touched since the day he disappeared.

“He likes socialising and that’s the strange thing. None of his friends have seen him since or heard from him,” Mr Manley said. “We’ve contacted so many ­people. He’s just disappeared, just vanished.”

If you have any information, please contact Maitland Police Station on 02 4934 0200 or Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.