Attention: if you hid your guns, ammo, grenades, and "high explosives" in the desert near State Route 87, you're not very good at hiding things.
Hikers found the aforementioned items in the past couple of days, and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and a pair of federal agencies are now utilizing a map and notes found alongside these items on their scavenger hunt for more caches of weapons in the desert.
MCSO Sergeant Brandon Jones says in an e-mail that the hikers, in an area called the Great Western Trail, were in the area Sunday when they found an ammo can with ammo and a handgun.
The same hikers made a trip of there Monday, and found another ammo can, this one containing hand grenades and "possible C-4 explosives along with detonation cords," Jones says.
MCSO deputies were called out, and they found five more ammo cans with explosives and ammunition.
In addition to that, one of the cans found Monday night also held a map, which points to "several other spots" in the desert, Jones says.
While utilizing the map, deputies -- who are now getting help from the ATF and FBI in the investigation -- found a handgun at one of the sites but no more explosives, as of shortly before 1 p.m. today.
However, deputies found another note, this one "describing high explosives at another spot on the map," Jones says. The MCSO doesn't know why someone would do this, or who did it.
Appropriately, Jones writes, "The search continues . . . "
