A California state snowplow driver clearing a remote stretch of U.S. 395 in the eastern Sierra Nevada found the bodies of a man and woman who had been slain, the Mono County Sheriff’s Office said.
The bodies were spotted just before dawn Monday on the shoulder of the highway about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the tiny community of Bridgeport.
Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded and determined the deaths were homicides, the office said in a press release.
“It can be confirmed that neither are local to Mono County or surrounding areas. The crime appears to be specific and targeted, and there is no threat to the community of Bridgeport,” the statement said.
The names of the dead were withheld pending notification of relatives.
The discovery came after the first storms of the season moved through California, bringing significant snowfall to the Sierra.
The Sheriff’s Office said further information will be released as long as it does not compromise the investigation.
Bridgeport is a six-hour drive north of Los Angeles.