Body remains unidentified

Searchers combed the sagebrush above Johnson Lane on Wednesday in hopes of finding clues to the death of a man whose body was found Sunday.

The man's body was discovered by a hiker beneath a piñon tree in the foothills of the Pine Nut Mountains, not far from Williams Canyon.

Investigators are hoping to identify the body, which had been lying in the wilderness for an estimated two to three weeks, according to Lt. Mike Biaggini of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

The body was located well off the beaten track and the hiker came across it by chance.

"He did stumble across him," Biaggini said.

Located on federal land interspersed with Washoe Tribal allotments, the area in which the body was found is a popular shooting spot, where old cars and computers join beer cans in the brush.

Biaggini said the death investigation is being treated as a homicide.

"We treat every investigation like a homicide until we prove to ourselves it is not," he said. "We want to make sure we've done a thorough job.

About a dozen members of Douglas County Sheriff's Search and Rescue spent hours walking from the top of Johnson Lane along the main road into the area.

No cause of death has been revealed.