LAS VEGAS (KLAS) -- Federal officials are investigating the discovery of more than 100 piles of cremated human remains left near a dirt road about an hour outside of Las Vegas.

The 8 News Now Investigators first reported the discovery on Monday. The person who found the ashes, who later contacted 8 News Now, said he stumbled on the piles on July 28 in a desert area outside of Searchlight.

Searchlight is a rural community about an hour south of the Las Vegas valley off U.S. 95.

An official with BLM confirms to the 8 News Now Investigators that the piles are human cremains and that the department was actively investigating. "Cremains," the word the official provided, is a word for human cremated remains.

What are generally referred to as “ashes” are pulverized bone, which are left over a

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