Police seek leads after body is found in desert

Metro Police homicide investigators were searching for clues this morning in the northwest desert where a body was discovered about 7:45 a.m.

A runner came across the body lying near a dirt trail and flagged down two people on all-terrain vehicles, who in turn notified police. The victim, described only as a black male, was found near a power-line road about a mile west of Lone Mountain Road and a mile and a half beyond the end of Alexander Road, homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

Police were awaiting the coroner's arrival at the scene before commenting on a possible cause of death or confirming the victim's identity.

The location of the body raised some concern for police, having been discovered about three or four miles from the desert area where the bodies of Lin "Spit" Newborn, 24, and Daniel Shersty, 20, were found two weeks ago. Newborn and Shersty were members of the Las Vegas Unity Skins, an anti-racist skinhead group.

Petersen said a preliminary investigation had not revealed a connection between the skinhead murders and the victim found this morning.

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