POLICE in California have ended their dig at a former desert hideout of notorious convicted murderer Charles Manson after two days of digging failed to find any evidence of bodies buried at the site, US authorities confirmed today.
Teams of forensic scientists and officers had been due to undertake three three days of "limited excavations" at the remote Barker Ranch in Death Valley national park, roughly 320km northeast of Los Angeles.
However the dig was halted at the end of the second day after work on four sites of interest failed to uncover evidence of clandestine graves.
Arpad Vass, a scientist with the Oakridge National Laboratory involved with the dig said he was frustated at the failure to unearth evidence.
"Unless the science improves in a few years I see no need of further digging," Mr Vass said.
Mammoth Lakes Police Detective Paul Dostie, whose private investigation of the site in February last year after his cadaver dog detected odours of possible human remains at five locations on the ranch, admitted defeat.
"We don`t know all there is out there, there is something," Det Dostie said. "Is it possible there are bodies out here? Sure. Is it worth spending more money on it? I don`t think so."
"There`s plenty of probable cause. But you can`t dig up the whole desert."
Manson, 73, is among the most notorious inmates in the United States. He and four of his followers were convicted of seven counts of murder following a crime spree in Los Angeles County.
The Manson family`s crimes included the gruesome killing of five people in the home of actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant at the time of her murder with her husband Roman Polanski`s child.
The Manson family have been rumoured to have claimed other victims at the Barker Ranch, however, according to reports and investigators.
But after two days of digging all investigators were able to unearth was a bone believed to be from an animal and a bullet casing that post-dated Manson`s killing spree.
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