Search teams found a man buried beneath 10 to 15 feet of dirt along Interstate 10 after a week long search in Palm Desert Friday.
Authorities were alerted to the possibility of a body buried on Saturday Feb. 12, when a homeless woman went into CalFire Station 35 in Thousand Palms and reported her 30-year-old friend missing, according to a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department news release. The woman told firefighters her friend had built an underground dwelling under a sand dune in the desert. When she tried to find her friend at 6 p.m. on Feb. 12, she found the underground dwelling had caved in.
Firefighters rushed out to the sand dune and removed several hundreds of pounds of dirt but could not find a body. The search was stopped after four hours.
Riverside County deputies continued the efforts by searching for the missing person in the area. Deputies could not find the missing person and on Feb. 18 heavy earth-moving equipment was brought in to dig in the sand dune once again. A search dog trained in locating dead bodies signaled a body was in the area, the news release said.
Search teams dug through nearly 15 feet of dirt and found the man had died. There are no signs of foul play but investigators are asking for anyone with information to call Crimestoppers at 760-241-STOP.
The coroner’s office has not yet identified the body.
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