No bodies unearthed at Manson hideaway

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK -- The dig for clandestine graves at Charles Manson's last hideout ended Wednesday, yielding no bodies and leaving scientists puzzled over the clues that had enticed them to come this far.

"There have been no human remains found," Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said Wednesday after the four sites with greatest probability of holding human remains were dug up. "We're finishing up this site and that'll be it for the day -- nothing."

Manson and his followers hid out at the isolated ranch following their killing spree in Los Angeles. For years, rumors have swirled about other possible Manson victims, including hitchhikers and runaways who visited the site and were never heard from again.

Scientists had brought forensic equipment designed to identify disruptions in the soil and chemicals typical of human decomposition to the high desert mountains in February. They'd identified five spots that could be graves. Four seemed to be very promising, prompting Lutze to conduct the exploratory excavation.

A crew of about 20, including nine members of the Inyo County Sheriff's Department, plus National Park Services staff and scientists, started to dig on Tuesday, planning to stay until today.

But the work went faster than scheduled, with the scientists and sheriff's deputies shoveling side by side until dusk then camping out beside the ranch house Manson and his followers had used.

By Wednesday afternoon, the four sites had been excavated and the dirt sifted. With the work done, the teams packed up and went home for good.

The search revealed little more than a .38-caliber shell casing, found on the surface on the first day and promptly dismissed by law enforcement personnel as being recent, and a pack rat's underground nest.

One site revealed fragments of animal bones, an ash pit, and some stones used to make arrowheads. Rangers determined it was of archaeological interest. The digging stopped, and the site was turned over to the National Park Service.Manson is serving a life sentence at Corcoran State Prison.