Remains described as being those of a small child were found Thursday near the home of missing toddler Caylee Anthony’s grandparents, a spokesman for the Orange County, Florida, sheriff’s office told CNN.

The discovery was made about 9:30 a.m. by a utility worker, who alerted authorities, spokesman Jim Solomons said. Investigators, including those from the Anthony case and defense team, were on the scene, he said.

Police Capt. Angelo Nieves was reluctant to disclose details of the discovery to reporters at the scene, other than to say the skeletal remains found in a plastic bag appeared consistent with those of a young child. The Anthony family has been notified of the discovery, he said.

Caylee Anthony, 3, has been missing since June in a case that has received national attention. Her 22-year-old mother, Casey Anthony, was arrested last month and faces first-degree murder and other charges in the girl’s disappearance.

CNN affiliate WFTV reported that the utility worker, a meter reader, picked up a bag at the site and a skull fell out.

Solomons said he could not confirm reports that the body was that of a small girl. Asked about the distance from the site to Casey Anthony’s parents’ home, he said it would be “very safe to say it’s in very close proximity.”

In a court hearing earlier Thursday, 9th Circuit Judge Stan Strickland postponed Casey Anthony’s trial at the request of defense attorney Jose Baez. The attorney said he had not received all the evidence due him from prosecutors and was not ready to proceed with the January 5 trial.

Baez asked Strickland if the trial could be delayed until March. The judge scheduled a hearing January 15 to consider a new trial date as well as a possible change of venue.

Prosecutors said earlier this month they would not seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony. Upon conviction, however, she could face a sentence of life in prison.

Authorities have said Casey Anthony waited about a month before telling her family that Caylee was gone. Cindy Anthony — Caylee’s grandmother and Casey Anthony’s mother — called the Orange County sheriff’s office on July 15, saying her daughter would not tell her where Caylee was.

When questioned, Casey Anthony gave conflicting statements to police, including some that were later disproved, according to hundreds of documents and investigative reports released in the case.

She claimed she dropped Caylee off with a baby-sitter, but when police checked out her story, they learned that the address Casey Anthony supplied belonged to an apartment that had been vacant for weeks. The woman Casey Anthony named as her baby-sitter told police she did not know her.

Investigators previously have said that cadaver dogs picked up the scent of death in Anthony’s car, as well as in her parents’ back yard. They also said air quality tests conducted by the FBI found evidence consistent with human decomposition and chloroform in the car’s trunk. A neighbor told police Anthony had asked to borrow a shovel.

Also, analysis of Anthony’s computer found she had visited Web sites discussing chloroform, and had done Internet searches of missing children, according to information released in the case.

Last month, Strickland denied prosecutors’ request to impose a gag order in Anthony’s case, saying he could not state that continued publicity would pose a threat to her trial, or even that a gag order would stem the flood of media attention.