CA- 6 people found shot to death in remote desert area of El Mirage - Jan 2024 *ARRESTS*

[Cedars]

Not sure why the LA Times would go to a professor in Colorado to get an opinion

My impression is the drug business is very dynamic - it's constantly fluid and changing. When police crackdowns, other gangs, other kinds of drugs like fentanyl affect one area, something new pops up in another area. Makes sense to me that it starts in a new area precisely because no one will notice it, at least for a while.

The idea that a professor would be in touch with this constant flux seems absurd.

JMO

 

[Dawookie]

My impression is the drug business is very dynamic - it's constantly fluid and changing. When police crackdowns, other gangs, other kinds of drugs like fentanyl affect one area, something new pops up in another area. Makes sense to me that it starts in a new area precisely because no one will notice it, at least for a while.

The idea that a professor would be in touch with this constant flux seems absurd.

JMO

It's definitely dynamic and I wouldn't expect a professor to be in touch with the constant flex. I was speaking more about going to someone out of state who most likely has no idea of the area and what happens there. Gangs and other criminal groups have been in the area dealing drugs for decades and more recently, cartel related activity with illegal grows. They need to be talking to people who have an idea and know what happens in the area

 

[Vern]

I was thinking about the "welfare check" call again last night as someone suggested that the locals probably were not the ones to call it in - which somewhat makes sesnse to me too as I was thinking one of the houses may have seen headlights "stationary" for quite some time so called in.

Last night I had the thought that perhaps a relative of one of the deceased had 'phone tracker' capabilities or one of the vehicles had GPS tracking (apple air tag etc??) and was being 'tracked at the time' or tracked by the relatve after their loved one failed to return when expected. They perhaps tracked and saw no movement occuring thus requested a welfare check?

There was, in various news footage released thus far, what seems to be possible relatives, being let through the police tape.

Thoughts? I haven't seen anything official from the 5-O adressing how/why/who/where that call came in. I have no idea how tracking works or if a cell signal is needed on both the receiving and sending end of trackers or whether or not any cell service is available in the remote area they were found in. Just curious if it's possible that that is what may have led to the request for welfare check.

 

[charminglane]

Very good speculation, @Vern.

 

[nao]

Moo..there are occasional gun shots heard in my area, as long as no screaming or yelling...no big deal. But this situation would of been rapid gun fire and possibly voices intermingled...so I can see that being called in.....moo

 

[Herat]

The inhabited places closest to the murder scene are the Sun Hill Ranch mine business, and possibly one of the properties farther west along Shadow Mountain Road. It's possible they could have called in a report of unusual gunfire and possible brush fire.

 

[TravelingBug]

Arrests (plural)! Presser in a few hours.

Arrests have been made in connection with the discovery of six bodies in the high desert of San Bernardino County.

Details about the arrests, confirmed Monday morning by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, were not immediately available. A news conference was scheduled for 5 p.m.

‘Dispute over marijuana' may have led to murders of 6 people in California desert, officials say

Arrests have been made in the discovery of six people found dead on a dirt road in the high desert of San Bernardino County north of Los Angeles.

www.nbcsandiego.com

 

[BlaiseFinlay]

It's definitely dynamic and I wouldn't expect a professor to be in touch with the constant flex. I was speaking more about going to someone out of state who most likely has no idea of the area and what happens there. Gangs and other criminal groups have been in the area dealing drugs for decades and more recently, cartel related activity with illegal grows. They need to be talking to people who have an idea and know what happens in the area

Yeah, the “leaps” in logic referred to seem to be familiarity with the local area. Reading other discussions on it, the people who are making that leap are, for example, people familiar with LA gang culture who identify it as a cartel-type crime, not a street gang type crime, or people who live locally and are familiar with the types of activity in the area. While acknowledging that this is all speculation by everyone until more facts are known, I wouldn’t describe any of that logic as a leap.

There is not likely to be any randomness to this crime, you don’t just find yourself at that intersection. It may be that the caller knew a victim was going there for some purpose and didn’t return. Either knew where they were going or tracked them as others have suggested.

 

[MassGuy]

Arrests (plural)! Presser in a few hours.

‘Dispute over marijuana' may have led to murders of 6 people in California desert, officials say

Arrests have been made in the discovery of six people found dead on a dirt road in the high desert of San Bernardino County north of Los Angeles.

www.nbcsandiego.com

The plural definitely sounds right, but I'm pleasantly surprised it happened this fast. Can't wait to hear the details!

 

[charminglane]

Sheriff: Mojave Desert massacre stemmed from dispute over marijuana

The brutal slaying of six men at a remote dirt crossroads in San Bernardino County likely stemmed from a dispute over marijuana, investigators revealed on Monday in their first update since last we…

ktla.com

 

[MassGuy]

You know what's weird? We don't have a clue as to the victims are, not even their sex. Normally, even if law enforcement hadn't identified the victims publicly, we'd have this information from family and friends. I don't recall anything like this happening before.

 

[Jo in Calif]

I won’t be surprised if we hear this has nothing to do with organized crimes or the cartel and we will be saying “ are you kidding me all those people were killed because of that.”

 

[Herat]

You know what's weird? We don't have a clue as to the victims are, not even their sex. Normally, even if law enforcement hadn't identified the victims publicly, we'd have this information from family and friends. I don't recall anything like this happening before.

Perhaps they have not yet been identified, such as if they were illegal immigrants, yet the perps had been found and arrested. I read on this board that not only illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America are in the area, but also Laos, Phillipines, and China.

This report has some basic information that shows that perhaps 14% of the illegal immigrants in San Bernadino were non-hispanic. It may be more difficult to identify non-hispanic decedents because of the difficulty of non-English or non-Spanish languages and/ or cultural issues. If LE had an idea why the 6 were together, it might be easier to figure out which place is missing 6 people, why they were together, and their identities.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/county/6071

 

[Cedars]

You know what's weird? We don't have a clue as to the victims are, not even their sex. Normally, even if law enforcement hadn't identified the victims publicly, we'd have this information from family and friends. I don't recall anything like this happening before.

Maybe a decision that was needed to keep up the momentum of the investigation...? Not wanting perps to know anything at all about it. Not wanting to pretend LE didn't know who/what happened.

IMO, if it was not obviously targetted, LE would have to alert the public, if they thought anyone else might be at risk from random shooters

JMO

 

[Herat]

You know what's weird? We don't have a clue as to the victims are, not even their sex. Normally, even if law enforcement hadn't identified the victims publicly, we'd have this information from family and friends. I don't recall anything like this happening before.

I think if this had been something like a carjacking and burglary, the blue SUV license plates or the white van plates would have led to a missing party of people traveling together.

 

[Herat]

Maybe a decision that was needed to keep up the momentum of the investigation...? Not wanting perps to know anything at all about it.

IMO, if it was not obviously targetted, LE would have to alert the public, if they thought anyone else might be at risk from random shooters

JMO

Yes, especially as it happened so close to a major highway that is used for trucking and recreation, as well as access to Las Vegas and such.

 

[MassGuy]

Maybe a decision that was needed to keep up the momentum of the investigation...? Not wanting perps to know anything at all about it. Not wanting to pretend LE didn't know who/what happened.

IMO, if it was not obviously targetted, LE would have to alert the public, if they thought anyone else might be at risk from random shooters

JMO

True, but my point is that even if law enforcement wanted to go that route, it’s very difficult to convince any family members/friends to remain silent, especially when you’re dealing with such a large number of victims at once.

 

[Herat]

True, but my point is that even if law enforcement wanted to go that route, it’s very difficult to convince any family members/friends to remain silent, especially when you’re dealing with such a large number of victims at once.

This tends to make me think the decedents have a common function such as workmates, but do not have a local family that would know they are missing. There might be only one or two cell phones that were shared by the group, and those were taken by the perps, so any family in a foreign country might not realize they were crime victims, or even really missing.

Or it just suits the purposes of LE not to release a lot of information right now, as others are also implicated.

 

[Herat]

Interesting, but probably unrelated

CHP Traffic for Barstow sector notes an abandoned damaged rollover vehicle found about an hour ago on Shadow Mountain Road, less than a mile west of the murder site. They are checking to see if it was stolen, and if I can translate the codes, it does not appear to be stolen. Then CHP changes the vehicle from abandoned to traffic collision - minor injuries, but no vehicle description.

Could be a looky-loo or reporters, mebbe.

Probably not related. No mention of driver or passengers

 

[Dawookie]

Perhaps they have not yet been identified, such as if they were illegal immigrants, yet the perps had been found and arrested. I read on this board that not only illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America are in the area, but also Laos, Phillipines, and China.

This report has some basic information that shows that perhaps 14% of the illegal immigrants in San Bernadino were non-hispanic. It may be more difficult to identify non-hispanic decedents because of the difficulty of non-English or non-Spanish languages and/ or cultural issues. If LE had an idea why the 6 were together, it might be easier to figure out which place is missing 6 people, why they were together, and their identities.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/county/6071

There have been illegal grows out here involving Asian crime groups and illegal immigrants from Asia