6 bodies found at remote crossroads in Southern California desert; investigation ongoing

VICTORVILLE, Calif. — Deputies found the bodies of six people at a remote crossroads near El Mirage, California, in the Mojave Desert, a scene described as so grisly that television stations blurred some of the images captured by their helicopter overhead.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputies were requested to respond to "an area off Highway 395 in El Mirage" for a wellness check on Tuesday night, sheriff's spokesperson Mara Rodriguez told the Victorville Daily Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. Upon arriving, five bodies were located and the sixth body was discovered by investigators during an overnight search.

Investigators were still gathering evidence to determine what happened at the scene, according to Rodriguez. Authorities did not release details about how or when the people died or who they were.

"It’ll be several hours still before we are ready for any body to be removed from the scene," she said during a news conference, adding that the coroner’s investigators will be called in then.

Members of the sheriff's specialized investigations division were also brought in to conduct a homicide investigation, according to an email from sheriff's spokesperson Gloria Huerta.

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Two parked vehicles found at crime scene

The area where the bodies were discovered is about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles and about 20 miles northwest of Victorville. Rodriguez said the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department had to request assistance from the California Highway Patrol’s Aviation Division to find the scene.

Overhead footage from TV stations showed two vehicles found parked at the crime scene including a dark blue SUV with a passenger window blown out and another door open, with part of the image blurred. Footage also showed several yellow markers near the dirt crossroads, in scrubby desert land that stretched for miles, blocking access from the nearest paved road.

Cardboard, broken bottles, and rubber tires were also found littered the area of the taped-off scene.

Where is the Mojave Desert?

The Mojave Desert is a region of Southern California as well as parts of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona that occupies more than 25,000 square miles.

The desert, named after the Mojave people, is part of the North American Desert and joins the Great Basin, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts, according to Britannica. The Mojave encompasses land from the Sierra Nevada range to the Colorado Plateau, next to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains.

Contributing: The Associated Press