[Max in Utah]

...born and raised in the same region where they were buried, but having spent most of their adult lives far away.

Sounds like they were exiled early in their lives (young hooligans, blasphemers maybe?) and executed by 'firing squad' when they returned.

[SunkenCiv]

Or, they were captured early in their lives, weren’t recognized when they managed to return, and were killed because they had been given tribal marks by the captors.