Over 300 piles of human remains found dumped in desert outside Las Vegas

Federal officials are investigating after more than 300 piles of human remains were found dumped in the desert outside Las Vegas as a new theory emerges.

A local man intially stumbled upon more than 100 piles of cremated remains in July. They were found in a desert area outside of Searchlight, a rural community about an hour south of the Las Vegas valley.

In August, a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) official confirmed that the piles of pulverized bone fragments, known as cremains, were human and that the department was actively investigating the discovery. Earlier this week, the case moved forward as hundreds more piles were found in another plot near the original dump site.

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Representatives from Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries recovered approximately 315 piles from the desert on Wednesday. "I think most of us just felt like, 'What a shame,'" Celena DiLullo, the president of the funeral home who stepped up to remove the remains, told KLAS.

As the BLM and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department continue to investigate, the origin of the remains is unclear. However, the piles of cremains were likely dumped by a commercial funeral home business, several sources told KLAS.

While there is no law in Nevada that prohibits the scattering of ashes on public land, state law requires funeral operators to preserve the "dignity" of any remains in their care. BLM policy also limits "commercial distribution of cremated remains," meaning a mass dumping site like the one discovered likely breaks federal law.

The remains were not dumped by McDermott's Funeral Home, which the Nevada Funeral and Cemetery Services Board closed in August. Several sources told KLAS that the remains were left by another recently closed funeral home, but a representive from that business has repeatedly denied any involvement.

DiLullo and other employees from Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries moved each pile of cremains into a bag and placed them into individual urns during Wednesday's recovery. All 315 remains wil be placed into a crypt.

"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."

None of the piles recovered on Wednesday contained any identfiable informationm, making it virtually impossible for families to find out whether the remains belong to their loves ones. Some of the piles found in July contained fragments of zip ties, which crematories use to close bags of ashes, while 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 added. "It's important to our community and our profession that we demonstrate how much we do care about these people."

Authorities are yet to identify any suspects. Officials have not confirmed whether the remains are connected to a specific mortuary business. Tips can be submitted to the BLM at blm_law_enforcement@blm.gov.