Behind the Scenes: Body hunt at Manson ranch

Behind the Scenes: Body hunt at Manson ranch
Published: 5/8/08, 1:00 AM EDT
By Ted Rowlands CNN Correspondent

DEATH VALLEY, California (CNN) - The Charles Manson murder spree of 1969 ended in a remote Death Valley, California, cabin called Barker Ranch. It's where Manson and members of his cult "family" hid after the seven murders, dubbed the "Helter Skelter" killings that terrified the country.
Now, thanks to a small-town detective and his cadaver dog, Manson's hideout might be searched for more murder victims.

About a year ago, Sgt. Paul Dostie of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department decided to test his dog, Buster, at the Barker Ranch. He heard rumors that Manson and his followers had killed more people and buried them behind their hideout.

After several visits, Buster, who was trained to find human remains, found five possible graves, Dostie says.

A few weeks ago, a CNN crew went with Dostie, Buster and gold prospector Emmett Harder to Barker Ranch. Harder knew Manson and his top lieutenant, Charles "Tex" Watson, and spent time with the Manson family in 1969. Harder says at that time he had no idea some of Manson's group of more than 30 men, women and children had just gone on a killing spree.

Getting to the Barker Ranch requires a four-wheel drive to manage the steep, rocky terrain of the Golar Wash -- a narrow passage separating the High Desert Mountains from the arid desert valley below. As we bounced around on the drive in, it was hard to imagine how Manson and his cult got a school bus up the same road 40 years ago.

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committed by the family, not by anyone associated with it, and they were all notorious gabbers. That guy seems to be pushing this thing really hard, one is reminded of the occasional dig that takes place in Detroit to look for Hoffa.

Oh, my goodness. You are mistaken. There were several "disappearances" associated with the family that remain unsolved to this day. NO, most law enforcement involved with this issue, including, IIRC, the prosecutor, believe that there were at least three more victims.

with this guy, please share them.

And yes, there have been rumors of others murdererd up there.

http://www.courttv.com/archive/verdicts/brucedavis_092498.html

It's been a long time since I read Bugliosi's Helter Skelter...but IRC, there was a defense lawyer who vanished during the trial...never to be seen again. Maybe this will answer that and other questions.

Charles Manson never murdered anyone. He rallied his followers to murder people.

...then we don't know whether it was Manson or someone else who killed them, do we?

Certainly, we know that in the helter skelter murders, it was others who did the killing. But that says nothing about how additional murders went down, if indeed there are additional murders to attribute to Manson and his cult.