Severed Head Found Below the Hollywood Sign

In a gruesome turn of events, police are now searching the hills surrounding L.A.'s iconic Hollywood sign for a body after hikers discovered a severed human head beneath the lettered sign Tuesday. 

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Two females were hiking with nine dogs around 2:30 p.m. when they found what appears to be the head of a human male in a bag on a trail near Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood Hills, Reuters reports. They immediately called park rangers who then informed the police.

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"Two dogs were playing with it, and that's when the dog walkers looked closer and realized it was a human head," said Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Karen Rayner. 

Police do not believe the head had been at the site for a long period of time, partially based on the absence of animal bites. 

Cadaver dogs were brought to the site to assist with a search for the body, but the investigation was stopped at dusk, Reuters reports that it will be resumed in the morning and that the crime scene will be guarded by police in the meantime. 

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The Hollywood sign, which dates back to 1923, was almost sold in 2010, before Hugh Hefner, philanthropist Aileen Getty and the Tiffany & Co. foundation each donated $1 million to help the Trust for Public Land acquire the property. 

In the past, many movies, television shows and even music videos, including last year's Friends WIth Benefits, Mulholland Drive, Heroes, 90210 and Rebecca Black's "My Moment" music video,"have been filmed at the location.