Six bodies found in Southern California's Mojave Desert

A call for a welfare check led authorities in Southern California to make a gruesome discovery this week: They found six bodies at a remote intersection in the Mojave Desert.

Officers with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department found most of the bodies Tuesday around 8:15 p.m. in a remote area along Highway 395 outside El Mirage, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. A sixth body was discovered early Wednesday morning, said Mara Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department. said at a press conference.

The site where the bodies were found is so isolated, Ms. Rodriguez said, that the Sheriff's Department sought help from the California Highway Patrol's Aviation Division.

Aerial images shared by television news crews shows an area littered with bushes and evidence markers near the scene. Video recorded by TV News had parts of the video blurred due to graphic images.

Neither the ages nor genders of the people whose bodies were found were immediately known, Ms. Rodriguez said. The cause and manner of death were also still being investigated and it was unclear how long the people had been dead.

Detectives have not released any information about the welfare check call that led them to the bodies, nor have they said in what condition the bodies were found.

“I don't even have enough information to speculate,” said Gloria Huerta, another spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department.

Members of the Sheriff's Department's Special Investigations Unit are assisting with the case.

Asked if bodies have been found in the desert before, Ms. Huerta said: “I know we have had cases before, just because we have a large desert area. I don't remember anything of this magnitude.

“I have been with the department for 25 years and I have never experienced anything like that,” she continued. “But it is quite a large, desolate desert area. There are no buildings that I saw. No companies or anything like that. So that's the best I could describe it. It's just an open space.”

Ms. Huerta said the bodies had not been removed from the scene as of late Wednesday afternoon.

“We are doing our best to understand and process the evidence collected and hopefully reach a conclusion on this case,” she said.