A man’s "smoldering" body was found on the burnt-out remnants of a bonfire pile in a remote desert area within Arizona’s Tonto National Forest on Monday, authorities said.

Deputies responded just before 7 a.m. to an area near Bulldog Canyon and discovered the burnt remains, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said.

The body belonged to a male who has yet to be identified, the sheriff’s office confirmed to Fox News Digital. The sheriff's office said the body "was found smoldering/burnt in the pile," and that they are investigating it as a homicide.

Neighbors, who live in a nearby community of about two dozen custom homes near Apache Junction, told FOX10 Phoenix that the area where the body was found is being frequented by homeless people and drug users, saying that they’ve found heaps of trash and needles there.

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"Just knowing that they found a body in a fire pit, I just think it’s really scary and really sad, and it’s hard to feel safe," resident Amber Kunau said. "That’s entering new territory for out here, we’ve seen a lot of stuff."

Another neighbor described seeing RVs – which she believes may belong to drug dealers – in the area, and said a fire had started from a meth lab that had been set up in the desert behind their properties two years ago.

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"We're scared for our own safety out here. Somebody needs to do something about it," resident Sharon Allison-Rown told the local station.

Few other details have been released about the deceased man, including his cause of death.

Homicide detectives are continuing to investigate.