Human Remains Found Near Site Of Mysterious Bloody Grave

Nearly two weeks ago a pair of hikers stumbled across a mysterious trail of blood and what appeared to be a freshly-dug grave in Big Tujunga Canyon. There were chicken bones and pieces of burned cloth—but no body.

Sheriff's detectives brought samples of the blood back to the lab, and the results prompted them to launch a full homicide investigation: the blood belonged to a human. Detectives returned to the scene above Lake View Terrace in the Angeles National Forest and found human remains not far—less than a quarter of a mile—from the shallow grave. The human remains were found about 3 miles into the forest, according to a release from the sheriff's department.

Detectives told NBC Los Angeles that it wasn't possible to figure out the gender, age or identification of the body initially because of the condition they were in.

It's not clear how long the body has been there. When detectives checked out the scene on January 9 initially, they noticed that the grave was freshly dug. It had rained a few days before and someone had dug the grave after the rain. Hikers at the time said it looked like there had been some sort of struggle or fight at the scene.