The enigma of hundreds of human remains found in the Las Vegas desert

Federal authorities are investigating the finding of more than 300 piles of cremated human remains in the desert near Las Vegas.

This week, Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries recovered the remains, and with an expansion of the area, more were found. The 315 piles were placed in bags and then in urns.

"I think most of us just felt like, 'What a shame,'" funeral home president Celena DiLullo told local media outlet 8 News.

"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 doubted. "If this is not how they would want to be remembered, we would just want to have a place for them to be."

He also stressed the importance that "these people are not forgotten and not left." They will be taken to a crypt in a nearby cemetery.

The main hypothesis, according to the local press, is that the remains come from some mortuary house, which perhaps closed its doors. However, the investigation is still underway.

Although there is no law in Nevada against scattering ashes in public places, there are restrictions that must be observed. Mass scattering, as in this case, may be illegal.

How were the remains found in Nevada?

The first red flag came from an anonymous source, who shared the find to 8 News Now. It was outside Searchlight on July 28.

Local media investigators went to check out the report, about an hour from Las Vegas. Authorities later confirmed they were human remains.

During that initial discovery, they also found in the area fragments of broken urns and pieces of cable ties believed to have been used to seal them.