Barker Ranch: More Charles Manson Murder Victims Likely (Photos)

Posted on: March 16th, 2008 by: Meg

Barker Ranch is infamous as the last hideout of Charles Manson and his ‘family’ followers. The group is serving life sentences for the gruesome LA murder spree of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and her house guests, which occurred nearly 39 years ago. The ranch is located inside Death Valley National Park in eastern California. According to CNN, the site likely holds more murder victims in unmarked graves.

Local law enforcement agencies raided the ranch in October 1969 and captured Manson under a bathroom vanity. At the time of his arrest they were unaware of the magnitude of the killing spree. Their original intent was to prosecute Manson for vandalism of Death Valley National Monument property.

Barker Ranch is located in a rock and boulder filled valley in the Panamint Range. It is only accessible by sandy, primitive and rugged roads. Streams feed this little valley and provide vegetation. A small one room guest house is located on the side of the main house. There is a makeshift cement swimming pool. Half a mile up the road is the Myers Ranch, which was owned by the grandmother of Manson family member Cathy Myers. This served as another residence for the Manson followers.

A determined group of forensic investigators have returned to Barker Ranch to look for evidence of additional bodies, buried in unmarked graves. Initial results suggest that they have found human remains. This would lend credence to jailed Manson follower Susan Adkins who told a cellmate that there were three other bodies buried on the ranch.

Arpad Vass, a senior researcher from Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory considered the quantity and types of markers of human decomposition found on the ranch, as well as the cadaver dog’s response, enough evidence to warrant further testing at a deeper level and a full scale excavation at Barker Ranch.

The likelihood of being able to prosecute additional crimes against Manson and his followers, who are serving life sentences, is very slim. Whether modern DNA testing could link newly found remains to missing persons from the late 1960’s might be a possibility.