PINE TWP, Mercer County — Investigators still don’t know the identity of a young female found buried in trash at a waste disposal site near the Mercer-Butler County line.

Workers at Tri-County Industries Inc. discovered the body Wednesday afternoon while loading trash into trucks at the company’s waste transfer station on TCI Park Drive in Pine Township, state police said.

The waste was destined for a landfill when it was unearthed about 3 p.m.

“The high-lift operator saw her body while reloading trash into the big trucks,” Sgt. Patrick Sarnese said this morning.

The workers initially didn’t know what they had found.

“At first, they thought it was a mannequin,” said Jerry Bowser, general manager for Tri-County Industries.

Company officials immediately notified authorities, he said.

An autopsy, which was to begin at 11 a.m. today in Erie, could provide investigators with more clues, including how the woman died.

Police said the body is that of a white female believed to be between 16 and 25 years old. She was fully dressed but had no shoes.

She was wearing black yoga pants, black tank top and white ankle socks with green trim. She also had pierced ears.

It appeared the woman had died recently, investigators said.

Bowser said the company’s trucks “run all night” and that the body was collected and arrived at their facility sometime between Tuesday night and shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Trucks from parts of northwestern Pennsylvania, including Butler County, and eastern Ohio bring trash to the site, Bowser said.

Police immediately began culling reports of missing persons within the company’s service area.

Sarnese said investigators flagged several reports of girls and women whose descriptions were “similar” to the body that was found.

He would not say if there was any trauma on the body that could indicate if she died of foul play.

He noted that police decided to wait to disrobe the body until after the autopsy in order “to preserve any trace evidence.”

Investigators plan to use fingerprinting, dental records and facial recognition software in an effort to identify the unknown female, Sarnese said.

“We’re scratching our heads pretty good over this one,” he said.

Shortly after the body was discovered, authorities said, police notified all other appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the Ohio State Police, to disseminate information that could generate leads to aid the investigation.

Police, meanwhile, planned a news conference at 11:30 a.m. today at the barracks in Butler Township.