The bodies found in a remote stretch of California desert earlier this week are those of two men who recently had been reported missing, officials said.
The circumstances around their deaths are shrouded in mystery even as the search has concluded at a property in Lancaster where law enforcement spent two days digging.
The men were identified as 61-year-old Ricky Phillips and 46-year-old Edward Perez, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to The Times. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office released the names Thursday and could not immediately be reached for comment.
Phillips and Perez were both from the Lancaster area, authorities said. Phillips, described as a white male, was reported missing on Sept. 10. Perez, described as a Hispanic male, was reported missing on Sept. 19.
L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Pyon said Thursday night that detectives had ended their search “on a large plot of land” near 50th Street East and Avenue F in Lancaster.
Detectives began digging on Tuesday in the remote area of Lancaster on a property next to a ramshackle home. Sheriff’s cadaver dogs, deputies with shovels and a backhoe were seen at work. The digging extended into Wednesday.
A second property, in the 43000 block of Blooming Park Street in Lancaster, also was searched on Tuesday.
Plastic storage bins were visible in the driveway. A man at the location was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car briefly before he was released. There were no arrests.
The investigation was spurred by the missing persons reports, authorities said.
It was not clear what, if any, connection there was between Phillips and Perez. Pyon said in a statement that no further information would be provided about the cases as they are still under investigation.
Anyone with information about these cases can contact the Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
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