EXCLUSIVE: Nevada Desert Horror — Investigators Claim Mystery Funeral Home Illegally Dumped Over 300 Human Ash Piles
Investigators have claimed a Nevada funeral home illegally dumped more than 300 human ash piles in the desert.
Dec. 17 2025, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
A horrifying and mysterious discovery has been made in the desert outside of America's gambling den of Las Vegas – more than 300 piles of cremated human remains, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Authorities believe the 315 mounds of ashes, discovered near the remote town of Searchlight on July 28, were illegally dumped there by a so-far-unknown funeral home.
Illegal Ash Dumping Exposed
Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries collected 315 illegally dumped ash piles for placement in individual urns.
While spreading the ashes of an individual's remains on public land is legal in the state, the mass dumping of ashes by a commercial funeral home is against the law, said sources.
Originally, 70 mounds were reportedly found, with the remaining piles discovered later at another plot.
Following the grisly discovery, a team from Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries was sent to round up the 315 ash piles and place each in an individual urn, said sources.
Unidentified Cremains Laid to Rest
Celena DiLullo said the unidentified cremains will be laid to rest in a crypt at one of her company's cemeteries.
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But a staffer from the state's Bureau of Land Management noted that there was no way the piles, referred to as "cremains," for "cremated remains," could be individually identified.
Celena DiLullo, president of Palm Mortuaries, said the remains will have to be placed unidentified in a crypt at one of her company's cemeteries.
She noted: "I think it's important to us to make sure that these people are not forgotten and not left.
"I don't know if it was the wishes of these people to be out [in the desert], so that's kind of what goes through my mind.
"If this is not how they would want to be remembered, we would just want to have a place for them to be."
