Authorities announced this Monday the arrest of five men, all of them Latino, in connection with the discovery of six bodies in the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California.
The deaths occurred in a dispute over marijuana, as detailed in a press conference.
Authorities identified the suspects as: Toniel Baez-Duarte, 34 years old, Mateo Baez-Duarte, 24 years old, Jose Nicolas Hernandez-Sarabia, 33 years old, Jose Gregorio Hernandez-Sarabia, 34 years old, and Jose Manuel Burgos Parra, 26 years old.
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Investigators with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on January 24, 2024.MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Da / MediaNews Group via Getty Images
The announcement comes approximately a week after the macabre discovery was made near Highway 395 in El Mirage.
A scene described as so disturbing that television stations blurred some of the images captured by their helicopters
The bodies were found Jan. 23 by San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies after someone called 911 and said they had been shot, San Bernardino County Sheriff Michael Warrick said.
Warrick said it appeared the victims were shot to death and that four of the bodies had been burned.
A fifth victim was found inside a Chevy Trailblazer and the sixth was discovered in the desert a short distance away.
“We are sure that this appears to be a dispute over marijuana
,” he stressed.
A sheriff's spokeswoman reported last week that they found five of the bodies on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning they found the sixth.
Details about their identities, including gender and age, were not immediately available.
Authorities were still gathering evidence to determine what happened, and Rodriguez said they couldn't even say how the people died or whether they had been shot.
The area, about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles and about 20 miles northwest of Victorville, is so remote that the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department asked the California Highway Patrol Aviation Division for help finding the scene. Rodriguez said.
With information from
The Associated Press
.