More human graves may be at Manson ranch

Forensic investigators have found possible evidence of decades-old human graves at a derelict compound where mass-murderer Charles Manson once hid.

Recent tests carried out by officials indicate there are two likely clandestine grave sites at Barker Ranch in Death Valley National Park — one of several hide-outs used by Manson and his followers.

A dog trained to sniff out decomposing human remains sat down on the ground and quivered when it was let loose on the property, an indication it sensed a human grave, the Associated Press reports.

Equipment used to detect fluorinated hydrocarbon compounds — one of 400 chemicals emitted from decomposing bodies — also beeped consistently during the search.

Further testing will be carried out by the team, which is made up of anthropologists, lab researchers and cadaver dogs, because of the promising initial results.

One of Manson’s followers Susan Atkins once boasted to her cell mate that there were "three people out in the desert that they done in." Manson was the mastermind behind a series of brutal murders that occurred in the US in the 1960s.

He is currently serving a lifetime prison sentence.

ninemsn, 17 Mar 2008