‘Freaky’ Murder in the Hollywood Hills? Severed Body Parts Found at Iconic Landmark

The severed remains of an unidentified man have been found near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, Calif., rattling the tony community and prompting widespread speculation about an apparent homicide.

Two dog walkers in Bronson Canyon made the initial gruesome discovery on Tuesday, after inspecting a bag that had caught their dog's attention, according to the Los Angeles Times. They found a man's head inside.

One of the dogs ran into the brush and came out carrying a plastic grocery bag. As the dogs shook the plastic grocery bag the severed human head fell out of the bag and onto the ground. Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told CBS Los Angeles.

The LAPD subsequently launched a massive search, which has since turned up severed hands and feet, found in separate locations.

A cadaver dog from the Los Angeles County coroner's office reportedly found the first hand on Wednesday, and the second -- which was located near where the severed head was found - shortly afterwards.

Just as the investigators were about the close the investigation for the day, the feet were found.

Authorities reportedly believe the remains were deposited near the Hollywood sign relatively recently, and are confident that the hands are in good enough condition to provide fingerprints that will lead to the identification of the apparent victim.

Authorities are reportedly cross referencing any findings against missing persons reports. The head appears to have belonged to a man between the ages of 40-60 with graying hair.

According to KTLA, the remains were initially believed to have belonged to a man of Armenian descent, but authorities are now saying the victim's ethnicity is undetermined.

We believe this body part was just deposited up here . . . probably within the past several days, Cmdr. Smith told CBS Wednesday.

We're hoping we can find more remains, Smith told the Los Angeles Times.

Hollywood area residents have been consumed with the mystery, which seems like it could have been taken from the script of the various crime investigation dramas that dominate network television.

Liam Lefevour, who regularly walks his dog near there area where the remains were found, told the Times the discovery was freaky.

It's a real-life 'Sopranos' situation, hiker Ann Marie Spinelli said.

There's no reason to believe that this is part of any kind of a series, Cmdr. Smith said.