PORT BOLIVAR — The discovery of a body on a Port Bolivar jetty about a mile into the Gulf of Mexico could be the county’s 16^th fatality from Hurricane Ike.

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Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Monday that a fisherman discovered the remains of an unidentified man at 1:50 p.m. Saturday.

His body was found on the North Jetty, which extends from Port Bolivar and protects the ship channel in combination with the South Jetty at Galveston.

“A man taking a break from helping his dad clean up his property walked out on the jetty,” Tuttoilmondo said. “It may be storm-related.”

The man’s name, age and cause of death were unknown, and a spokesman with the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office wasn’t immediately available for comment Monday.

It is unclear how long the man’s body was on the jetty.

With access on the peninsula limited to residents and property owners tending to their damaged homes, it is possible the man could have gone undiscovered since the hurricane’s storm surge inundated the peninsula beginning Sept. 12.

Ike’s Sept. 13 landfall in Galveston County caused severe flooding and damaged much of the Upper Texas Coast.

Before Saturday’s discovery, the medical examiner reported 15 county residents died either directly or indirectly from the storm, and that DNA could be the only way to identify the remaining victims.

The medical examiner began collecting bone samples last week to send to the University of North Texas to compare with a state DNA database.

John Florence, a spokesman for the medical examiner, has asked immediate family members of those who believe a loved one is missing to call the office at (409) 935-9274 to schedule an appointment to give a DNA sample in the form of an oral swab.

The unidentified victims include one woman found on Pelican Island, one woman and a man found on Goat Island and the man discovered Saturday.