An investigation has been launched into the origin of mounds of human ashes found in the desert near Las Vegas.
A man alerted authorities after discovering around 70 suspicious piles of ashes concentrated around a dirt track outside the rural town of Searchlight, Nevada.
Inquiries confirmed they consisted of cremated human remains, sparking a wider search in the area.
A second group of piles was found, and the total recovered from both sites now stands at 315.
Sources involved in the operation believe the piles were probably dumped by a funeral home business.
Nevada law does not ban individuals from scattering ashes on public land.
However, US federal regulations, under the Bureau of Land Management, forbid businesses from dumping cremated remains on federal land on a commercial scale.
The desert area where the remains were found lies on land managed by the authority, local media reports.
‘I think most of us just felt like, what a shame,’ Celena DiLullo, the president of Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries, told 8 News Now.
‘I don’t know if it was the wishes of these people to be out, so that’s kind of what goes through my mind,’ she said.
‘If this is not how they would want to be remembered, we would just want to have a place for them to be.’
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Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries stepped up to help the authorities to recover the remains in a dignified way.
On Wednesday, the staff had removed around 315 piles from the remote desert location, and replaced them in a crypt at one of its cemeteries.
DiLullo told 8 News Now: ‘I think it’s important to us to make sure that these people are not forgotten and not left.
‘It’s important to our community and our profession that we demonstrate how much we do care about these people.’
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