Overview

• A passerby reported roughly 70 piles along a dirt road off U.S. 95 near Searchlight, about an hour south of Las Vegas, and provided photos to local media.
• A Bureau of Land Management official confirmed the material consists of cremated human remains, which are typically pulverized bone.
• The federal agency has opened an investigation into how and why the remains were deposited in the desert.
• Authorities have not identified any suspects, and no arrests or charges had been announced as of Wednesday, Aug. 27.
• Nevada permits individuals to scatter ashes on public land, while BLM policy prohibits the commercial distribution of cremated remains on federal property.