# Let's do this criminal thing "out in the desert"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 30, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043 "2021-03-30T19:59:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/121 "2021-04-02T16:45:22Z")
That worked really well on the [whale carcass](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-behind-oregons-infamous-exploding-whale-dies-flna8c11504906). đ
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/122 "2021-04-02T17:07:43Z")
To be fair to Thornton, he didnât have the **[USDA guide (PDF)](https://lemurking.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/obliterating-animals-with-explosives.pdf)** handy; it was only published in 1995. And it may have taken a LOT of explosives to obliterate a whale; the figure on page 2 of the guide shows 55 pounds of explosives being used for an 1100-pound horse. The Oregon whale was estimated at 16,000 pounds, so you might expect 800 pounds to be required. As it turned out, Thornton used 990 pounds, so not far off. Maybe the undesirable result came down to poor placement/distribution of the charges?
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/123 "2021-04-02T17:17:04Z")
Oh, I know it wasnât really his fault. He did the best he could with a real stinker of a job. Itâs only funny because no one was hurt, but it is funny to think of a rain of blubber for a quarter mile.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/124 "2021-04-02T18:37:44Z")
I know @Morgynâs cite includes a link to one version of the vid, but itâs just too marvelous an event to not link directly.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34)
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### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/125 "2021-04-02T19:25:58Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> If youâre looking for something quicker, you could just use explosives
Seconded.
Tripler
âTrust me.â
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/126 "2021-04-03T01:55:55Z")
Of course while lots of desert areas are truly remote and lots of others arenât to the average city dweller after he gets a short distance away from the major highways he thinks he is in the middle of nowhere.
Anyone here acquainted with the McStay Family Murders:
> **[McStay family murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McStay_family_murders)**
>
> The McStay family murders occurred on or near February 4, 2010, after the family disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California, United States; their bodies were found in the desert near Victorville, California, on November 13, 2013. Their disappearance was widely reported by the national news media.
> On November 7, 2014, police announced they had arrested Charles "Chase" Merritt, Joseph McStay's business partner, and intended to charge him with the murders. The trial began on January 7,...
And here the location: a short distance off of an interstate, buried in a shallow grave. Shallow enough so some wild animals dug up some of the bones which were seen by an off-road motorcyclist.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdIp5BZTkqE)
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### Author:  [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/127 "2021-04-03T02:46:43Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> Donât know which cartel that was, but âThe Pozole Makerâ predated Breaking Bad
And [La Femme Nikita](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iNFxFmuCYGQ) predated that
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### Author:  [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/128 "2021-04-03T02:47:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Do people not use pigs anymore?
Pigs? In the desert?
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/129 "2021-04-03T02:54:52Z")
> [@mbh](#):
>
> There are large areas of mostly-empty land, but you need to know where you are going. You need to know who owns the land, and how fussy they are about trespassers.
On one of my recent Zillow forays (I like to check out available real estate in various parts of the U.S.) I found what looked like a great deal in southernmost Arizona. For a pretty nice-looking house and 79 acres of picturesque desert land with corrals and outbuildings they were asking only $375K. Wow!
With a little research I discovered that the property lies along a major smuggling corridor, involving trafficking in both drugs and humans. A border patrol agent was shot and killed in the area not long ago.
Um, guess Iâll pass on that opportunity. âš
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/130 "2021-04-03T03:16:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> For a pretty nice-looking house and 79 acres of picturesque desert land with corrals and outbuildings they were asking only $375K. Wow!
You could get that around here in that price range, with rainfall and without the smuggling corridor, as long as it didnât have lakefront.
Probably a lot of other places in the country, too, as long as you stay away from major cities.
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/131 "2021-04-03T03:56:13Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#):
>
> > [@msmith537](#):
> >
> > Do people not use pigs anymore?
>
> Pigs? In the desert?
They are called â[javelinas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peccary)â
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/132 "2021-04-03T04:02:51Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#):
>
> > [@msmith537](#):
> >
> > Do people not use pigs anymore?
>
> Pigs? In the desert?
[Hope this is not a bad momentâŚ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUynRdzzsM)
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/133 "2021-04-03T04:10:03Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> The point of going out on the desert to dispose of a corpse, or, more generally, to conduct some type of clandestine activity, is to be able to work unobserved.
I feel the point of disposing of a body in the desert was just convenience. There was a lot of organized crime activity in Las Vegas and that led to people getting killed. If you have a dead body you need to get rid of in Las Vegas, what do you do with it? Places like the deep woods or the ocean or a swamp might be hypothetically better but where are you going to find those in Nevada?
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### Author:  [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/134 "2021-04-03T04:54:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Places like the deep woods or the ocean or a swamp might be hypothetically better but where are you going to find those in Nevada?
There are forests in Nevada. They tend to be a little sparser than âthe deep woodsâ (not nearly as much undergrowth), but they look serviceable. Most of them are at least three hours from Las Vegas (more like 4 hours if you follow speed limits â but if you have corpses in the car, try not to attract the constabulary). In fact, almost all of Nevada is not very close to Las Vegas. However, there are some serious deep woods in Southern Utah, which is comparatively closer.
Just get a small airplane and fly over where you want to lose the body. Probably drop it from as high as you can so that it will be tenderized for the scavengers. I am pretty confident that you can find a charter service that specializes in this sort of thing and knows where to drop and exactly how to time it.
If you really need to do this thing, for fuck sake, do it right. Remember, a little bit of sloppiness can be very costly.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/135 "2021-04-03T05:16:16Z")
Didnât read the whole thread, sorry.
I know of a half-dozen abandoned mineshafts within a short drive of my house that you could toss a dead hooker down and it would never be found. All right on a dirt road, or trail, all easily gotten to, and all equally dangerous that exploration would be next to impossible. Hell, drag something off 100 yards of the âroadsâ I take the dogs everyday and it would be likely to never be found, either. A sea of six-foot Sage and sand, couldnât spot a Road Sign out there. Coyotes, and other scavengers would disperse the remains, and wind and dirt would cover them in short time.
Yeah. âThe Desertâ is a fucked up place if you got bad intentions.
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### Author:  [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/136 "2021-04-03T13:50:42Z")
I like how you specify âa dead hooker,â instead of something more generic, like âa body.â Is there anything you would like to tell us?
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/137 "2021-04-03T13:52:51Z")
The best place to hide a body is in or under your house. When killers who do that are caught, itâs always because they let one get away, not because someone found a body.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/138 "2021-04-03T13:59:08Z")
> [@eschereal](#):
>
> Just get a small airplane and fly over where you want to lose the body.
I was going to suggest that a couple/few days ago, but thereâs a catch. Thereâs radar coverage over much of U.S. airspace. Even if youâre flying VFR outside of a traffic area, thereâs a good chance youâll be bouncing waves. And Iâm pretty sure the FAA saves radar âtapesâ (maybe digital now) for a short time.
So to avoid looking suspicious, you take off in your Cessna (high wing, better for dropping stuff) on a recreational cross-country to another airport to get a $100 hamburger. Along the way, over some desolate area where literally no one ever goes, you jettison the body and continue on your way. You have your burger get some fuel, and then fly home. So whereâs the problem?
You might have been tracked on radar for part of your flight, so anyone who had questions would know which direction you were going. If your municipal airport has a control tower, there will be a record of when you took off. At the destination, there will be a record of you being there. If youâre under any suspicion, some smart gumshoe might get the idea to re-trace your path.
Itâs probably unlikely that a body dropped into the desert would be found from the air. But it isnât foolproof.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/139 "2021-04-03T14:39:59Z")
Nope.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-do-this-criminal-thing-out-in-the-desert/939043/140 "2021-04-03T15:00:36Z")
Hereâs a case where someone tried to dispose of a body by dropping it from an airplane.
> **[Discovery Channel to feature Delaware murder case where 16-year-old was...](https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2020/02/11/discovery-channel-feature-delaware-homicide-where-16-year-old-suffocated-tossed-airplane/4721810002/)**
>
> "I've never had a case where a body turns up in international waters dropped by a plane," State police homicide Sgt. Pete Fraley said at the time.
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