(Update) 2 Sets Of Human Remains In Park Linked To Gang Activity: Police Chief

(Updated at 12:15 p.m.) FALLS CHURCH, VA — The search of a local park led to the discovery of two bodies, and Fairfax County Police believe the homicides were related to gang activity, authorities said Friday morning.

In a news conference at Holmes Run Park, near Bailey's Crossroads, Col. Edwin Roessler said that police detectives and a search team found the two sets of human remains Thursday night. "I can assure you this is gang activity," he said.

A spokesman for the Fairfax County Police Department said the two sets of remains were taken to the state medical examiner's office for identification, and the names of the deceased will be released after next of kin are notified.

Roessler said the bodies were found after the police received tips, but he could not comment on the source. The news conference was carried live by radio station WTOP.

The FBI has also joined the investigation into the homicides and gang activity, according to police. The police search in Holmes Run Park began Wednesday.

In a statement, the Fairfax County police said that members of the department’s Search and Rescue Team, along with police detectives and special agents with the FBI, made the discovery "approximately 300 yards into the park from the intersection of Crater Place and Yellowstone Drive."

Police were still processing the site Friday where the human remains were found. The park is in the Lincolnia area.

Media reports have linked the MS-13 gang to a pair of recent killings in Northern Virginia, but the police chief declined to link the Salvadoran-based gang to the latest homicides. "I can't confirm which gang, and I'm not going to advertise for gangs," Roessler said.

Police and other authorities in the region are battling a spike in gang activity among young people, including murders, Roessler said, pointing to the work of a Northern Virginia gang task force.

"This is the youth of tomorrow that's being eroded, and we need to get them out of gang activity," he said.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to contact the Police Department's Major Crimes Division at 703-246-7800, or:

• Contact Crime Solvers electronically by visiting www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org
• Text-a-tip by texting “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES (274637)
• Call 1-866-411-TIPS (8477)
• Call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131