The police discovered the bodies of six people at a remote dirt crossroads in the Mojave desert in southern California.
Several local TV stations were reportedly forced to blur out images taken by their helicopter cameras due to the scene's gruesome nature.
Police Found 6 Bodies in Remote Mojave Desert
Joshua Trees are seen as the York Fire burns in the Mojave National Preserve on July 30, 2023. The York Fire has burned over 70,000 acres, including Joshua trees and yucca in the Mojave National Preserve, and has crossed the state line from California into Nevada.
On Tuesday evening, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's office discovered five of the bodies at a dirt crossroads outside the community of El Mirage. Sheriff's spokesperson Mara Rodriguez reported that the sixth was found on Wednesday morning.
Rodriguez said that investigations into the incident are ongoing and that authorities are yet to determine how the victims had died or whether they had been shot.
The sheriff's office requested assistance from the California Highway Patrol's Aviation Division to locate the scene, about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles and about 20 miles northwest of Victorville, which is so remote.
"It'll be several hours still before we are ready for anybody to be removed from the scene," she said, adding that the coroner's investigators will be called in then.
The TV crews arrived on Tuesday evening and saw two cars at the crime scene. The TV stations' overhead footage showed a dark blue SUV with a passenger window blown out and another door open, with part of the image blurred.
The footage showed multiple yellow evidence markers near the dirt crossroads in a scrubby desert land that stretched for miles. Yellow tape blocked access from the nearest paved road.
According to an email from Gloria Huerta, the sheriff's spokesperson, the department's specialized investigations division was called in to conduct a homicide investigation.
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Massive Wildfire in California's Mojave National Preserve
On Friday, the York fire erupted near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the wildland preserve. On Sunday, it crossed the state line into Nevada and spewed smoke into the Las Vegas valley to the east.
California faces hot and dry weather, and the state currently has two major blazes. Firefighters reported they had progressed in fighting the other blaze, the Bonny fire in Riverside county.
In the Mojave desert, wind-driven fires scorched thousands of acres of Joshua tree woodland, juniper, and desert scrub, rising as high as 20 feet (6 meters) in some places. On Monday, the York fire was mapped at about 120 sq miles (284 sq km) with no control.
On Sunday, the crew fought fire whirls, known as fire tornadoes. According to the National Park Service, the phenomena is a spinning column of fire that arises from extreme heat and windy conditions.
The park service said that while the fire swirls can be fascinating, they are still a dangerous natural phenomenon that can occur during wildfires.
The investigation update claimed that the dry fuel acted as a ready ignition source. When paired with those weather conditions, it resulted in long-distance fire runs and high flames, leading to extreme fire behavior.
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