Pair shot to death before car torched

Two charred bodies found earlier this month at a remote southwestern valley location were victims of execution-style shootings, Las Vegas police said Wednesday.

Homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said the deceased couple, a boyfriend and girlfriend in their mid-20s, were killed in a double homicide.

Their bodies were found inside a torched car.

"They were both shot in the back of the head," Roberts said.

The Clark County coroner's office has not identified the couple. Roberts said police know who the victims are, but won't release the identities.

Police have no suspects in the case and are working to pinpoint a motive.

"There are some theories floating out there," said Roberts, who didn't want to elaborate until investigators were certain of the motive.

On Nov. 11, an ATV rider near a detention basin near State Route 160 and Hualapai Way reported seeing what he thought was a body in the back seat of a four-door sedan.

Police initially said one body was in the car but later discovered another body under the first.

Police said they believed the bodies were at the location, undiscovered, for three to five days. The bodies were so severely burned that the remains were skeletal.

Police also had difficulty identifying the torched car. Roberts said Wednesday the car was a Cadillac, but he didn't know the make or year.

The charred bodies were found one day after North Las Vegas police recovered two bodies near a red pickup at the base of the Sheep Mountains, a few miles north of Losee Road and the Las Vegas Beltway.

North Las Vegas police said Jeffrey L. Lingle, 38, and Graciela Mullis, 44, died in a murder-suicide.

The cases were unrelated, police said.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.