Human head found in bag below the Hollywood sign

A severed human head in a plastic bag was discovered by hikers below the iconic Hollywood sign near Los Angeles Tuesday. Police say that they are now searching the area for the rest of the unidentified person’s body.

Reuters reports that two women hikers were walking their nine dogs along a trail near the popular Griffith Observatory in Hollywood Hills.

According to The Los Angeles Times, two of the hikers’ dogs found the head inside a plastic bag in the brush, a law enforcement source said.

Police say the head appears to be that of a man in his 40’s with salt-and-pepper hair. The LA Times reports that the police believe the head was severed recently due to the condition of it.

Investigators have already closed off the area to search for more body parts, notes The Associated Press. After searching until dusk on Tuesday with the help of cadaver dogs, they will return to the scene on Wednesday. The Los Angeles County coroner will be called in to try to identify the remains.

As Reuters notes, the Hollywood sign has been an iconic landmark since it was built in 1923, reading “Hollywoodland.” In the late 1940s, “land” was removed and in 1978, the remaining letters were restored. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sign was almost sold in 2010 to the Tiffany & Co. foundation, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and philanthropist Aileen Getty helped the Trust for Public Land acquire the sign.