LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Federal authorities are continuing their investigation into the mysterious disposal of over 300 piles of human remains discovered in the desert near Las Vegas, with a local funeral home stepping in to assist on Wednesday.
The existence of these remains first came to light in August when 8 News Now Investigators reported the finding of more than 100 piles of cremated ashes. The individual who uncovered the remains initially reached out to 8 News Now, revealing that he had come across the piles on July 28, in a desert area outside Searchlight. This rural community is located roughly an hour’s drive south of the Las Vegas valley, along U.S. 95.
In August, an official from the Bureau of Land Management confirmed the remains were indeed human cremains and stated that their department had initiated an active investigation. The term “cremains” refers to the remnants of cremated human bodies.
On Wednesday, teams from Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries successfully collected about 315 piles from the desert location. Another section containing additional piles was identified near the original site reported by the 8 News Now Investigators.
Commonly referred to as “ashes,” these remains are actually pulverized bone fragments, which are the residuals after a body has been cremated.
“I think most of us just felt like, ‘What a shame,’” remarked Celena DiLullo, President of Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries.
Each pile represents a person who lived in the Southern Nevada community. The piles are likely the work of a commercial funeral home business, several sources confirm to the 8 News Now Investigators.
DiLullo and other Palm employees moved each pile into a bag and into an individual urn during the recovery effort on Wednesday.
There is no law in Nevada barring a person from scattering ashes on public land. State law requires funeral operators to preserve the “dignity” of any remains in their care. BLM policy allows for a person to scatter cremated remains; however, the policy limits “commercial distribution of cremated remains.” A mass dumping site, like this one, likely violates federal law.
“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,” DiLullo said. “If this is not how they would want to be remembered, we would just want to have a place for them to be.”
Palm will place all 315 remains into a crypt at one of its cemeteries so loved ones can find them, DiLullo said. Each pile no longer contained any identifiable information as of Wednesday. In August, some piles contained pieces of zip ties, which crematories use to close bags of ashes. Pieces of a broken urn also littered part of the site.
“I think it’s important to us to make sure that these people are not forgotten and not left,” DiLullo said. “It’s important to our community and our profession that we demonstrate how much we do care about these people.”
Several sources have suggested to the 8 News Now Investigators that the remains came from a recently closed funeral home. A representative from that business, which is headquartered out of state, has repeatedly denied any involvement.
The remains are not connected to McDermott’s Funeral Home, which the Nevada Funeral and Cemetery Services Board closed in August.
Tips can be submitted to the BLM at blm_law_enforcement@blm.gov.
8 News Now Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.com.
