![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/joshua_trees_desert-scaled.jpg\")
The desert outside Los Angeles. David McNew \/ Getty Images<\/p>\nSign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter<\/p>\n
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A LONE DOVE soared over us, and Kent abruptly stopped his Tacoma on the side of a dirt road. He and I debated whether to get out. We\u2019d hiked 5 miles that morning in futile pursuit of doves and jackrabbits and were about ready to call it a day.<\/p>\n
But then the dove landed atop a Joshua tree, maybe 50 yards away. We didn\u2019t want to leave empty-handed, so we grabbed our shotguns and stepped out to turn that symbol of peace into an afternoon snack. <\/p>\n
We spread out and moved on the dove. As we drew closer, I casually clocked Kent\u2019s location on my right. Finally, we arrived in range. Kent gave me a thumbs-up. I clicked my safety off, took a few more steps, and checked Kent\u2019s position once more.<\/p>\n
This time, an extra set of eyes stared back.<\/p>\n
The desert outside Los Angeles. David McNew \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
A Chance Meeting<\/p>\n
I\u2019d met Kent Kachigian about a month before, on the last day of California\u2019s 2022 quail and rabbit season. I can only describe our introduction as a redneck meet-cute. I was headed to a spot in the Angeles National Forest about an hour from my apartment in Los Angeles. I saw Kent\u2019s truck parked where I\u2019d intended to hunt, so I went elsewhere. When I returned later to hit the spot, Kent was sitting on his tailgate with his retriever, Rosie. I introduced myself. We had plenty in common.<\/p>\n
I live in L.A. Kent owns property there. I drink Tecate. Kent keeps limes in his truck. I wanted more hunting buddies, and Kent did, too.<\/p>\n
We chatted, drank a beer, and exchanged numbers. He told me he\u2019d invite me the next time he went out. And as a new hunter in a state where less than 1 percent of the population hunts, I was thrilled.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Car-2.jpg\")
Antelope Valley is a dumping ground for cars, junk, and bodies. Chris Grillot<\/p>\n
All of that is to say, when we went hunting on March 13, 2022, we didn\u2019t really know each other. We arrived in the Antelope Valley, about an hour and a half outside of L.A., around 9 a.m. Kent was bummed to find that most of the farmland where he\u2019d once chased jackrabbits had been overtaken by solar farms.<\/p>\n
After driving the area, we finally settled on a large swath of undeveloped land dotted with Joshua trees and scrub brush. It didn\u2019t take long before we were bumping black-tailed jackrabbits and missing shots on Eurasian collared doves, two species that can be hunted year-round in California.<\/p>\n
We eventually returned empty-handed to Kent\u2019s truck to drive around the area. We\u2019d barely made it another couple hundred yards down a sandy road when that lone dove flew over.<\/p>\n
A Skull in the Desert<\/p>\n
That second set of eyes that stared at me weren\u2019t eyes after all. They were hollowed-out eye sockets on a human skull, lying on its left side in the dirt. I got this sick feeling I hadn\u2019t felt since I worked as a crime reporter in New Orleans in my 20s. It\u2019s a mixture of adrenaline and nausea. I used to experience it so regularly it had stopped bothering me, but now it was back in full force. Kent could tell something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a skull.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent nodded, like Cool, sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo really. There\u2019s a human skull.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, Kent looked at me like I was an idiot. I\u2019d later learn he did, in fact, think I was an idiot in that moment. He figured I\u2019d seen a cow skull.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked toward the skull, and my impression was confirmed. It\u2019s hard to tell how long it had been there. It was fleshless and picked clean by scavengers, yet its teeth were still intact. I had the feeling if I put my face close enough, it would have smelled.<\/p>\n
We knew we had to call it in. We also knew our hunting trip was officially a bust.<\/p>\n
As we walked back to the truck, a few details began to stand out: There was a walking cane and a wallet on the ground near a pile of tattered sweatpants. I knew not to touch the wallet with my hands, so I used the barrel of my Remington 870 to nudge it open. It was packed with credit cards and a driver\u2019s license, half-hidden in the folds. Knowing the cops would likely fingerprint it, I resisted the urge to investigate further.<\/p>\n
![\"Joshua](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Desert-3.jpg\")
Rabbit and dove country, dotted with Joshua trees. Chris Grillot<\/p>\n
When we reached the road, I texted my fianc\u00e9e about our macabre discovery. She immediately responded, suspicious of my new hunting partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy fianc\u00e9e is asking how well I know you,\u201d I told Kent, grinning nervously. He had his shotgun cracked over his shoulder, his own cell phone in hand.<\/p>\n
He looked back at me. \u201cMy wife\u2019s asking the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Enduring Mystery<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know it\u2019s a skull?\u201d the deputy on the phone asked. Kent and I looked at each other, dumbfounded by the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh, because it is,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you send a picture?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d I said. The deputy gave me his number, and I texted him a photo. He went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, yeah, I\u2019m sending guys out now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Considering we were in the middle of a desert, Kent and I figured \u201cnow\u201d meant somewhere in the next hour so we hunted another area nearby (again to no avail), then cracked a Tecate. Eventually, two L.A. County Sheriff\u2019s Department deputies arrived, and we walked them to our discovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, that\u2019s a skull,\u201d one said, still sounding dubious about the legitimacy of our claim. They called in additional units. I thought we might be questioned as suspects. Instead, the deputies asked if we wanted to canvas the area with them.<\/p>\n
We obliged. The deputies were short on words while we searched, but they did mention the area we were in is a frequent dumping ground for L.A. gangs: Gang members will kill someone in the city, drive them out to the valley, and bury the body in a shallow grave. Often, coyotes eventually dig up said grave and scatter the body parts.<\/p>\n
His point was proven moments later when we found a human spine maybe 50 yards from the skull. The ribs had been chewed away, but we could tell it was human by the purple metallic pins in the lower lumbar area. The deceased had undergone back surgery at some point.<\/p>\n
The deputies took our names then, and when their crime scene crew arrived, they kicked us out of the area. We left, anxious to see what news reports would reveal of the incident.<\/p>\n
To my surprise, there was nothing. In my experience reporting crime, law enforcement agencies generally send out a press release within hours of a discovery like ours. There would be scant information in the presser\u2014the time and place the body was found\u2014but at least there was something.<\/p>\n
The Sheriff\u2019s Department released nothing that day. Or the day after. Or the week after.<\/p>\n
My curiosity compounded to the point I called the Sheriff\u2019s Department one afternoon to ask. A public information officer told me there had been nothing new so the agency didn\u2019t release any information. That seemed weird to me, because they had talked to the media in similar past instances<\/a>. I tried calling again for this story \u2014 twice \u2014 and was transferred to the assigned detective, but he hadn\u2019t returned my calls as of publication.<\/p>\n Kent and I often text about our theories. He thinks workers building the solar fields found the body during construction and relocated it to avoid the delays an investigation might cause. The screenwriter in me was fascinated by the possibility of a more far-fetched story, one that would be better suited for TV: alleged notorious gangs<\/a> within the sheriff\u2019s department were behind the murder, and they kept it out of the media when we found the remains.<\/p>\n A friend of mine who\u2019s a former Los Angeles police officer reminded me the truth may be more mundane and distressing: Cases of elder abuse and neglect in desert communities often end with dumped bodies.<\/p>\n