Tuesday, March 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
and Karen Zekan
Three decomposing bodies, possibly of teenagers, have been discovered in a shallow, bloody grave in the southeast valley, Metro Police said today.
Two men riding through the desert on three-wheelers made the gruesome discovery of one body about 4:30 p.m. Monday about a mile south of Vegas Valley Drive near Hollywood Boulevard, 25 yards from the Government Wash.
The bodies had been in the desert area about a month, detectives said. They were under a tree and bushes, next to two torn mattresses.
Detectives said they do not have any immediate leads on the identities.
The first body, its head partially protruding from a ripped-open garbage bag, was barely visible beneath a pile of dirt, weeds and rocks.
"It appears that dogs in the area probably pulled the body up," said homicide Lt. Larry Spinosa.
It it weren't for the wild dogs living in the area, the bodies may never have been discovered, Sgt. Bill Keeton said. "They would have stayed preserved under the dirt," he said.
The advanced stage of decomposition limited investigators' abilities to determine the sex or age of the dark-haired victim. The first victim had shoulder-length hair, Spinosa said today.
A putrid stench initially drew the men to the burial site, one of whom said he sensed it may have been a female's body after noticing what he believed were women's shorts on the victim.
The men reported their find to a Metro officer patrolling the area.
With the coroner's assistance, investigators excavated the body from its grave and combed the dirt and surrounding scrub brush for clues.
About four hours after the first body was discovered, a second body was found in the same grave, police said.
Homicide detectives, working all night, discovered a third body this morning. They were in separate plastic bags.
Autopsy results were expected today to determine the causes of death, but police believe the victims had been slain.
"There was a tremendous amount of blood," Detective Dave Hatch said. "It looks like slashing and cutting, but that's just speculation until the autopsies."
Based on their visual examination this morning, detectives believe the bodies are of teenagers or young adults. They could not determine the sexes.
The assailant put the bodies in separate plastic bags and bound the bags with packaging tape. Police said they believe the victims were killed somewhere else and brought to the wash area.
Detectives speculated that it took two hours to bury the bodies under a six- to eight-inch dirt mound about a mile east of the Sunrise Golf Club.
"Whoever buried them went to a lot of trouble," Hatch said. "They dug them into the embankment and covered them until there was a big burial mound."
Two bodies were placed in the grave side by side with one on top. Bloodied children's clothing, including T-shirts, shorts and socks, were in the plastic bags with the bodies.
"It was a bloody death," Keeton said. "We believe the clothing was used to wipe up the blood. The clothing probably didn't belong to the victims."
Fingerprints were taken in hopes of ascertaining identities.
Detective Laura Anderson with Metro's missing persons bureau said the fingerprints of the victims will go into a national bank for runaways and missing children.
Police, meantime, were communicating with numerous agencies to determine whether the bodies could be matched with missing people in Nevada or other states.
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