More than 300 piles of human cremains found in desert outside of Las Vegas

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Oct 31, 2025

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More than 300 piles of cremated human remains were discovered in a desert just outside of Las Vegas, sparking a mystery for which authorities so far have few answers.

A local stumbled upon the site of the remains in July outside Searchlight, Nevada, a rural community about an hour south of Vegas, KLAS reported. By August, officials with the Bureau of Land Management confirmed the cremated remains — or cremains — were in fact human.

In the weeks since, representatives from Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries have removed approximately 315 piles from the desert. A second area containing more piles was also uncovered near the initial dump site, KFOR reported. Celena DiLullo, president of the funeral parlor, said the the remains would be transported to a cemetery crypt, emphasizing that they will be treated with dignity.

“I think it’s important to us to make sure that these people are not forgotten and not left,” DiLullo told the news station. “It’s important to our community and our profession that we demonstrate how much we care about these people.”

While it is legal to scatter ashes on public land, state law requires funeral operators to preserve the “dignity” of any remains in their care. It also limits the “commercial distribution of cremated remains,” which means a mass dumping site like this one is likely illegal.

“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.”

The origins of the cremains are still unclear, and an investigation into the matter is ongoing. Sources told KLAS that each pile represents a person who lived in the Southern Nevada community.