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Mass Grave Being Excavated In The Middle Of The Desert Right Now
Victorville and Hesperia from above (Photo by Doc Searls via the Creative Commons on Flickr)
Authorities are working on excavating bodies from as many as three grave sites in the middle of the desert as we speak.
Earlier this morning San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told the San Bernardino Sun that there could be as many as three graves just on the outskirts of Victorville. Authorities don't yet have a guess as to how many bodies they believe might be in those graves.
The graves were discovered on Monday by a motorcyclist who was off-roading and noticed some bones. Authorities returned to the site and confirmed that they belonged to a human and likely more than one person. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller told The Sun, "It appears the remains have been there for an extended period of time."
As of this afternoon, authorities were still working on excavating two grave sites about 6 feet apart, which you can see in these aerial photos:
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#SanBernardino Co. Sheriff's investigate an area where 3 grave sites were found near #Victorville @iecrimejourno pic.twitter.com/bQWvSZcXiq
— John Valenzuela (@jvalenzuelapix) November 13, 2013
The graves really are in the middle of the desert. There's an airport nearby, but no homes or businesses. The graves are surrounded only by sage and chapparal in the rolling desert hills. It's north of Stoddard Wells Road near Quarry Road, and it's just eastwest of the 15 Freeway on the way to Vegas, The LA Weekly reported.
San Bernardino Sheriff's Cpl. Naquin told The Weekly, "It's going to be a long arduous process. We need to make sure we get every bit of evidence excavated."
Excavators will stop digging at nightfall and lock down the area.
UPDATE 11/14: Four Human Skeletons Discovered In Remote Desert Graves
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This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
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