Five men arrested in Mojave Desert massacres that remained a mystery for days
Authorities in Southern California announced Monday that they had arrested five men in connection with the six people fatally shot last week at a remote intersection in the Mojave Desert, a grisly scene that investigators say stemmed from a dispute over marijuana.
Just days ago, news of the bodies seemed like a stunning mystery, with few details revealed to the public.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department received a call for a welfare check on January 23. That prompted officers to go to an intersection along Highway 395 outside El Mirage, a community about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
There they discovered the bodies of five men. An additional male victim was found early the next morning. Video footage taken by television news stations obscured the graphic images. No updates were offered.
But behind the scenes, authorities were quickly gathering clues in an area they said was known for illegal marijuana.
“From the moment we began this investigation, we received strong leads and after being briefed, I felt confident that we would be able to take into custody the suspects involved in this murder,” said Shannon Dicus, the Sheriff of San Bernardino County, told reporters Monday.
The sheriff said dumped bodies linked to illegal marijuana cultivation were not new to the region. “It's not an anomaly,” he said. “The anomaly here is the number of people who have been murdered.”
He said the department's marijuana enforcement teams served a total of 411 search warrants last year for illegal marijuana cultivation and seized 655,000 marijuana plants, 74,000 pounds of processed marijuana and $370 million.
Authorities announced Monday that the 911 call that sparked their search came from a man believed to be one of the victims. Dispatchers received a call from a man who said in Spanish that he had been shot but did not know his location. The call ended, but his cell signal was tracked to a remote area in the Mojave Desert.
Because the area is particularly isolated, the Sheriff's Department sought navigational assistance from the California Highway Patrol's Aviation Division.
After officers arrived, they found four men with severe burns and another man in an SUV. The two vehicles found at the scene were a Dodge Caravan and a Chevrolet Trailblazer, one of which had multiple bullet holes. The next day, investigators found another victim a short distance away.
Four of the six victims have been identified: Baldemar Mondragon-Albarran, 34, of Adelanto; Franklin Noel Bonilla, 22, of Hesperia; Kevin Dariel Bonilla, 25, of Hesperia; and a 45-year-old man whose name has not been released pending notification of his relatives. It is believed that Franklin Bonilla called 911.
On Sunday, authorities served search warrants in several communities near where the bodies were found. Detectives recovered evidence including eight firearms that will be analyzed to determine if they were used in the murders. The suspects were arrested at a compound near what authorities said appeared to be a future growing operation.
Investigators determined that arrangements had been made for the suspects to meet the victims at the remote location for a marijuana transaction.
The suspects are all area residents: Toniel Baez-Duarte, 34, and Mateo Baez-Duarte, 24, of Apple Valley; and Jose Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, 33, Jose Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia, 34, and Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, 26, of Adelanto. The five men are in custody without bail pending an investigation by the local district attorney.
“We are still conducting a follow-up investigation, but we are confident we have arrested all suspects in this case,” said Michael Warrick, homicide details sergeant with the department's Specialized Investigations Division.
Aimee Ortiz reporting contributed.