- Numerous piles of cremated human remains have been found on federal land in Searchlight, Nev.
- The piles were illegally dumped on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management
- Authorities are investigating the source of the illegal dumping
More than 100 piles of cremated human remains have been found in a mass gravesite an hour southeast of Las Vegas, and no one knows how they got there or who they belong to.
KLAS-TV/Las Vegas was alerted this week by an anonymous tipster who happened upon the grey piles of powdered and pulverized bone on the side of a highway near the town of Searchlight on July 28.
If there was a doubt about what the piles consisted of, that doubt was shattered by a broken urn found at the scene.
The tipster took multiple photos of the piles surrounded by cacti, desert brush, and mountains.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which owns the land, confirmed that the remains are human and is investigating this as a case of illegal dumping. Las Vegas police were initially involved in the investigation, but have deferred to the BLM. The Clark County coroner’s office isn’t participating.
Nevada law allows individual, noncommercial scattering of cremated remains for “casual use,” but BLM policy restricts funeral homes and other commercial businesses from disposing of remains on federal land.
That distinction is now central to the federal investigation.
No suspects have been identified.
This news comes three weeks after Nevada revoked the license of a Las Vegas funeral home. McDermott’s allegedly allowed months to transpire — in one case, 10 of them!! — before cremating eight bodies, all of which were transferred to another funeral home.
The funeral home’s owner, Chris Grant, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the bodies waited so long because he was still waiting for the required approvals from the Clark County Social Services Department.
There is no reason to believe the two cases are related.
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