Severed head, hands found near Hollywood sign
A man’s severed head was found near the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES — a second severed human hand was discovered Wednesday afternoon near the Hollywood sign hours after investigators found another hand in the hiking area, the Los Angeles Times reported.
More than 30 officials from the Los Angeles Police Department have been sifting through the Hollywood Hills since 2:30 p.m. local time when hikers found their dogs playing with a severed man's head in a plastic bag.
Officials said the victim appeared to be a male in his 40s of Armenian descent with salt-and-pepper hair. Police also believe that the slaying had occurred recently, because of the condition of his remains, the Times reported.
The severed hands could likely be from the same body, as a number of coyotes who inhabit the area could have moved some of the body parts.
More from GlobalPost: Southern California man tried to murder wife with Rice Krispies, reports say
The coroner has yet to make a determination, which he will do through dental records, according to CNN.
Sources told the Times that investigators continue to search the area, which has many hiking and horseback riding trails, for additional body parts. The circumstances of the murder and the cause of death were not immediately known.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division is handling the case, according to The Los Angeles Times.
More from GlobalPost: Homicide no longer a leading cause of death in the US