Deputies have found six people dead in a remote area of the Mojave Desert in southern California, authorities say.
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San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies were called to an area off Highway 395 outside the community of El Mirage for a wellness check at 8.15pm on Tuesday and found five of the bodies.
The sixth was found on Wednesday morning, sheriff's spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez said.
Authorities did not immediately release details about how or when the people died or who they were.
Rodriguez said investigators were still gathering evidence to determine what happened.
"It'll be several hours still before we are ready for any body to be removed from the scene," she said, adding that the coroner's investigators will be called in then.
Two vehicles were found parked at the crime scene.
TV helicopter footage showed yellow markers near an intersection of dirt roads in scrubby desert land that stretched for miles.
Yellow tape blocked access from the nearest paved road.
The area, about 80km northeast of Los Angeles, is so remote that the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department called in help from the California Highway Patrol's Aviation Division, Rodriguez said.
Members of the department's specialised investigations division were brought in to conduct a homicide investigation, according to an email from sheriff's spokeswoman Gloria Huerta.
Australian Associated Press
