Bodies found near pot crop
Police earlier discovered 50,000 plants in nearby California national forest
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:19 a.m. ET July 25, 2007

INDEPENDENCE, Calif. - The burned bodies of two people were found near a marijuana plantation where police discovered 50,000 plants and arrested five people this month, authorities said.

The bodies found Tuesday appeared to have burned in a wildfire that consumed about 35,000 acres in the Inyo National Forest this month, Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said.

But their location near the marijuana growing area, as well as other undisclosed evidence, led authorities to believe the victims were involved in the drug operation, Lutze said.

The bodies were found eight miles northwest of Independence, between the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo Mountains, about 225 miles north of Los Angeles.

'Backpacking'
Authorities were led to the unidentified bodies by four men who claimed they were looking for two missing relatives, Lutze said.

“They dropped them off apparently to go ‘backpacking’ a few weeks ago,â€